Devil May Cry: Zero
by Kowaiki
Summary: Ever thought about what it'd be like if Dante and Vergil actually get along with each other? What if there is more than a way to unseal the path to the Underworld? COMPLETED
1. Chapter 1: The Request

First Mission

Disclaimer: All original characters from Devil May Cry belong to Capcom. This is a non-profit fan fiction.

Chapter 1: The Beginning

It was a warm spring afternoon. Sparda's sons were spending their weekend at home. The older twin, Vergil, was concentrating on his assignment whilst Dante, the younger twin, was practicing on his aiming with darts.

"Vergil, are you listening to me?" Dante asked, he threw a dart but it missed the center and went into the second inner ring of the target.

"Yeah I am," Vergil replied without taking his eyes off his paper. Occasionally he paused to look at his notes before he returned to writing the draft. The desk was completely covered in books and papers.

"So what do you think of the idea?" Dante pulled up a chair and put his feet on the desk.

"Yeah sounds good to me," Vergil said, still paying more attention to his assignment more than his brother.

Not satisfied with the response, Dante snatched the papers that Vergil was working on. He leaned back to his chair and rolled the paper up like a poster.

"Hey give that back!" Vergil demanded, his tone was slightly irritated. He wasn't usually as short-tempered as his brother, but Dante had been distracting him all afternoon. His calmness was wearing.

"I just want to make sure you're listening to me," Dante grinned.

Vergil sighed and he too, leaned back to his unstable chair. It looked like it will fall apart anytime. He understood very well that his brother wouldn't give up until he's happy. "So you want to start a demon-exterminating business?"

"Yep, and we'll make this place our office," Dante said.

"Are you sure we'll even get customers?" Vergil asked, "I mean there aren't exactly devils running around the city right now. I don't see why this kind of service will be needed."

"There are devils that are able to come to the human world from cracks of the seal. Besides, we don't have to narrow ourselves down to just doing demon slaying. We can handle other businesses like person finding, assassination, body guarding, and things like that." Dante explained.

"You mean like a detective agency?" Vergil asked while seriously concerning his cocky and lack patience brother could become a detective at all.

"Yeah," Dante nodded, "You're up for it?" His ice blue eyes were filled with excitement.

"Okay," Vergil gave in. He hadn't seen his brother so happy in a long time. "By the way, can I have my assignment back? I do want to graduate, not like you."

Dante smiled and threw the roll of papers back to Vergil, who caught it single-handedly. In return, Vergil threw back the dart Dante left on his desk. It hit right on the central red dot of the target.

One month passed quicker than the brothers thought. After a long argument as in who should name it and what it should be called, they decided to name their agency 'Devil May Cry'. Dante sent out countless flyers but there had been no response. He waited for phone calls everyday but no one called for their help.

The night exactly a month after they started business was moonless and windy. Strong winds made old windows of their house slam against their wooden frames, causing some noise. Normally if the TV was on it'd be less disturbing but Dante broke it that morning. Vergil was cleaning the house whereas Dante was sitting at the desk.

Vergil stopped moping the floor and put the mop against a wall. "Just forget about the phone," He said to Dante, who had been staring at their only phone that sits on the only desk in their house where Vergil worked on his assignment previously. "You've been waiting for calls all day. How about giving me a hand or trying to fix the TV instead?"

There was no response from his brother. Dante quietly stood up from his chair and got himself a glass of water. Vergil knew Dante was disappointed. He felt sorry for his brother too, it was the first time he saw Dante worked as hard on something as Devil May Cry.

Just when Vergil was about to get back to cleaning, he heard a loud knock on the door. They usually don't get visitors, especially not at night. He frowned and headed for the door.

"Nah-uh! It's for me." Dante rushed passed his twin, beating him to the door. Before he opened the door, he told Vergil to put away the cleaning equipment as well as roll his sleeves back down. Vergil rolled his eyes and went to the laundry with his mop and bucket.

Dante took a deep breath and opened the door. Outside stood a young lady about the same age as him, perhaps even younger. She was wearing a white t-shirt and denim skirt. Her shoulder-length black hair was a direct contrast to Dante's. She has light green eyes that reflect deep anxiousness. It surprised Dante a little that a girl showed up in front of Devil May Cry. Before he could say anything, he was being asked.

"Is this the Devil May Cry Agency?" She asked with a doubtful expression.

"You've got the right place," Dante answered, pointing at the hand-made shop sign above their heads.

"Um, it's actually over there," The girl said, looking to the direction where the wooden sign that had fallen on the ground and broke into a few pieces.

Unusually for Dante, he blushed in embarrassment but only for a second. "Please come in," He quickly gestured the girl to enter his agency/house and sit down in front of his desk. Normally the girl would've smiled at this event but she was too occupied with matters in her mind.

"How can I help you?" Dante asked as soon as he sat down. "Oh by the way, do you want something to drink?"

"No thank you," The girl rejected the offer and continued. "My name is Rei. I need you to save my sister for me. She's been kidnapped and the police can't find her."

"I see," Dante looked at his client. She seemed pale and exhausted. "Where did you last saw her?"

"You see, sir-"

"Dante," Dante interrupted.

Rei continued, "You see, Dante. I saw her being kidnapped. I know who kidnapped her and where she is. The police just don't believe me."

Vergil who came out from the laundry and disturbed their conversation. Rei looked at Dante and then at Vergil. She was stunned by the fact that the two young men had the same face and hairstyle.

"I'm sorry," Vergil apologised. "Please continue."

"I'm sorry too," Rei said, referring her rudeness for looking at the brothers with a bewildered face seconds ago.

"That's ok, we're used to it," Vergil smiled. He too, grabbed a seat and sat down next to them.

Dante was more interested in Rei's story. "So, why won't the police believe you?"

Biting her lip as though she was hesitating to continue, Rei slowly went on. "My sister Mia was abducted by devils. They searched the place where I had been told she was being held but they found nothing." She was prepared if Dante and Vergil to start laughing at her any time for being out of her mind.

To her surprise, they didn't laugh. "I see…where is she now?" Dante asked as though what she said before was totally ordinary.

"She is being held in Moon Corporation's head office. But I'm not sure exactly where inside it," Rei said. "Will you help me?"

Before Vergil could stop his twin, Dante stood up and offered his hand. "Deal. Devil May Cry, at your service."

Author's note: Hi everyone! I began writing this fan fiction while waiting for Devil May Cry 3 being sent to me. No, it wasn't just a thing to pass time with. I really wanted to write a story about Dante and Vergil before they became archenemies. For some reason, I strong believed the twins did not hate each other to begin with. Did anyone crack up at where Vergil was mopping the floor? This story is actually written days before I got it up on Anyway, I'm getting carried away again. Please review for me!

Date written: 27-02-2005


	2. Chapter 2: The Entering

First Mission

Disclaimer: All original characters from Devil May Cry belong to Capcom. This is a non-profit fan fiction.

Chapter 2: The Entering

Three figures were running in a windy and rainy night. It started raining soon after they left shelter. The first person was a teenage girl, followed by two men with the same figure and face. The only difference between them was their brightly coloured long coats. Dante favoured crimson red whereas Vergil took a liking of ice blue that happened to match his eye colour.

After Dante made the agreement to rescue Rei's sister, they started their mission immediately. Both Vergil and Dante were surprised when Rei insisted to go along with them. However, they both knew if they were in her place, they wouldn't be able to sit and wait either. Besides, Mia had been to Moon Corporation and can guide them there.

"You know," Dante said to Vergil who was behind him as they ran. "I thought you weren't coming."

"It was you who said this is a partnership," Vergil replied. Actually, the real reason why he came was because he was slightly worried about Dante. A lot of things that Rei said to them drew his attention.

It was around midnight and very few people were on the street since it was a Monday night. Otherwise the three of them would've drawn a lot of attention if it were in the day. Rei made a right turn into an alley away from the main street. Dante and Vergil followed. By the time they arrived in front of Moon Corporation, they were soaked wet.

"We're here," Rei announced as they reached their destination.

"Time to rock," Dante said, punching his right fist into his left palm. They ran about half an hour non-stop so Rei was catching her breath. It amazed her that neither of the brothers broke a sweat. Meanwhile, both Vergil and Dante thought sarcastically what a wonderful day it was to have their first mission. Dante could feel a storm coming on top of the already gloomy weather.

Moon Corporation was a medium-sized insurance firm. It was set up in the previous year and gained popularity quickly because of its cheap insurance rate and comprehensive coverage. The head office is located close to the central business district. The skyscraper had at least thirty floors, making it one of the town's symbols. All its windows were non-see-through glass.

"Any suggestions as in how we should get in?" Dante asked with his arms crossed, studying the security cameras inside the building through the glass door entrance. It was completely dark inside and with no bright lights from outside other than street light, he could faintly see a long reception desk and a couple of cameras.

"I didn't think you would need to think about something like that," Vergil said. "You definitely wouldn't try to get pass all the infrared lasers and a few dozens of security cameras, right?"

Dante grinned, "Guess not." Then he headed for the small path between the building and the wall around it. Vergil and Rei followed him. "Where's he going?" Rei asked. "You'll see," Vergil replied.

They had to climb over a fence to reach the back of the building. Dante jumped over with ease. Rei used the garbage bin as a stepping-stone before leaping to the other side. Making sure they weren't being followed, Vergil went last.

"This is it right, Verg?" Dante asked his brother as he indicates a large mental container that was about the size of a small shed.

"Yes," Vergil replied. He then walked towards not where Dante was but to a door that has a 'danger high voltage' sign on it.

By that time, Rei realised what the twins had on mind. "Wait a minute, you're not going to destroy the power generator right?"

"Bingo," Dante said. He drew his sword, the Rebellion, out and cut the huge lock into clean halves. Vergil flashes out his katana. Although she was near him, Rei could only see a couple of lightning fast movements before he returned it to its sheath.

Vergil could guess that Rei was concerned they would make a great deal of noise as they do so. "Don't worry, there's not going to be any explosions," He said to her. It reminded him of the times when he and Dante was little, they used to went around the town destroying things.

"The building probably has more than thirty floors though," Rei pointed out. "Sure the lift will be helpful with getting up there. Also, it's our first time in the building and we need the light."

"Taking the lift is dangerous because we don't know what surprises there will be in front of us. Having the lights on will probably be help when we need to deal with demons but we don't want people inside to know where we are; if there's anyone," Vergil explained.

After spending five minutes at the generators and tackling wires, Vergil asked Rei to check whether or not she could still see any sign of electricity in the building. Rei back the front entrance to searched for the little red lights beside cameras there were lit before but they seemed to be turned off by then.

When she returned, Vergil was looking at Dante's handiwork. "Finished," Dante announced, dusting his hands after throwing down some wires he'd been working on. "The stand-by generator is done as well," Vergil said.

"No more annoying cameras and lasers," Dante said with a satisfied look.

"No lights either," Vergil added. He looked over at Dante who shrugged with a who-cares expression. The elder twin knew well that his brother would only think this as more to the fun. But Vergil was getting a bad feeling about the mission.

"You are pretty good at that," Rei commented.

"He's a mechanic freak," Dante teased his brother. Rei smiled at Vergil to show gratitude. Vergil nodded in response. He noted she didn't cease frowning slightly even as she smiled. The signs of anxiousness in her pale green eyes from the moment he and Dante met her reminded Vergil that they shouldn't be wasting any time.

"Let's get going," Vergil sliced the back door that was beside the stand-by power room with his katana. The others followed him into the pitch-dark office building. Dante handed out everyone a torch each. They turned on their own torches and began examining where they were.

The place where Vergil broke into was the fire escape path. The three teenagers went past the stairs and into the first door they saw. They found themselves inside a large office with the usual desks, chairs and computers everywhere. Dante went to the reception area by existing the office from another door. Rei went into the other rooms but didn't find anything out of ordinary. After no discoveries on their sides, Dante and Rei found Vergil at where the lifts were, studying the building's directory.

Vergil shifted his gaze away from the directory when the two approached him. Dante and Rei both shook their heads.

"There are forty floors in this building," Vergil said. "There are two basement levels below us and thirty-seven levels above. It will be too time consuming for us to search floor by floor. So I think we should split up."

Without thinking, Rei volunteered to search the basement. She assured the twins she'd be fine by herself when they asked her whether she could handle devils in case of an assault.

Dante and Vergil made their way to the stairs. The air in the stairway was musty and foul. Dante stopped his pace just as they reached level one. "You want to say something?" He asked his brother, leaning back against the whitely painted wall in the stairway. It was a special bond between them so sometimes they could tell what the other one is thinking.

"Can't you tell?" Vergil lean his weigh on the continuous handrail that follows the stairs all the way from bottom to top. "Rei is hiding something from us."

"May be," Dante said. He felt Rei was a little strange as well. "Are you that curious about why her sister was kidnapped by devils?"

Vergil sighed; obviously his brother wasn't getting the most important point. "I don't mean that. Although I am interested in that as well, I'm thinking why the devils will let Rei know exactly where her sister is. Normally, kidnappers don't want to be found, right? Unless…"

"Unless they want to use Mia as a bait to lure Rei out," Dante finished for him.

"Or the devils want us and Rei is luring us to them," Vergil points out the other possibility.

"Chill out man," Dante said, resting a hand on Vergil's shoulder. "It's probably nothing serious. She didn't look like she was lying back there. Why would some devil want us? There's nothing we can't handle anyway."

"I'm not sure," Vergil answered. He thought about how clear and pure those green eyes were. Those pupils definitely didn't look like they belong to a liar.

"We can ask her about it later," Dante said. His eyes lit up as he remembered something. "Oops!"

"What's wrong?" Vergil asked.

"I forgot to ask her what her sister look like!" Dante exclaimed.

"Figures," Vergil muttered under his breath. He then began to head upstairs, leaving his brother on the second floor. "I don't think it'll be that hard to figure out it's her," He said to Dante. "I'll take the third floor, ok?"

"Gotcha," Dante said and entered the door that leads to the second floor.

Author's note: I've got DMC3 today! Oh yeah I'm over the moon. But I won't stop writing just because I'm playing the game. However, now I know it was Dante who created DMC himself instead of with Vergil. Also, Dante hadn't even named his agency before devils sent by his brother destroyed it. Oh well, I'm not changing my story. Why am I getting this feeling Dante is going to name DMC at the end of DMC3 the game?

I'm wondering if these chapters are too short. But the story seems to end quite well by the time I get to the fourth page. It's weird. Again, please review!

Date written: 28-02-2005


	3. Chapter 3: The Reason

First Mission

Disclaimer: All original characters from Devil May Cry belong to Capcom. This is a non-profit fan fiction.

Chapter 3: The Reason

Dante found himself at a cafeteria. There were a dozen of round tables with four chairs stacked on each neatly. A few vending machines stood at the corner of the room. The floor was as quiet and felt as eerie as a cemetery. The air surrounding him was so still that it felt dead. At least Dante knew there are devils lurking around, because he could sense an uncomfortable burning sensation to his skin, as well as a strange scent in the air.

While his eyes scanned the area like a hawk, his right arm reached for Rebellion. Suddenly sensing sharp air moment from behind, Dante rolled to the side and saw his attacker. It was a Hell-Pride, a low-class devil that carries a long scythe as its weapon. Three more Hell-Pride appeared out of nowhere, standing beside the first one.

Throwing his torch aside, Dante drew out his beloved guns, Ebony and Ivory, moved backwards while still facing his enemies and opened fire.

Third floor was an office setting much similar to the first floor. However, this one was much larger. Vergil looked around but didn't see anything that drew his attention. When he was about to leave for the floor above, he heard the ringing sound of a phone.

For some reason, Vergil had a feeling that the phone was for him. He walked over to the ringing phone with a tiny red light flashing and picked it up.

"Hi there, son of Sparda," A man's voice came through from the phone. "My name is Rune."

"Who are you and what do you want?" Vergil asked calmly. The security cameras weren't working anymore, how did someone find out they were there? More importantly, why didn't they ambush them instead of telling them they know they were here?

Rune chuckled, "I've heard that you and your brother are protecting a girl called Mia, am I correct?"

Vergil knew his client was Rei, not Mia, but he thought it'd be wiser not to mention it. "Yes, so?"

"I just can't stand and see the sons of Sparda being fooled by a human girl," Rune said. "She is using you."

"How so?" Vergil asked, skeptical about the things he's been told.

"She and her sister Rei has the power to destroy both the human world and the underworld," Rune said. "They shall not be protected."

Narrowing his eyes, Vergil asked, "What makes you think I'll believe you?"

"You don't have to," Rune said casually. "But you'll know what I'm telling the truth very soon." After he finished the sentence, Rune hung up, leaving Vergil with the dial tone.

Faintly, Vergil could hear gun shots from the floor below, he quickly hang up and headed downstairs.

After a while of fierce shooting, Dante charged towards the Hell-Prides with his Stinger attack. So far, he finished off two Hell-Prides but the other two are still standing and waiting to lung at him at anytime. He wished he powered up his guns more before facing the enemies. The cafeteria wasn't the best place to battle either because the tables and chairs constantly got in the way. By that time, they have destroyed about half of the furniture.

It was only his second time dealing with devils. The first time he encountered devils was two years ago, when he and Vergil heard there were monsters appearing at night in the town next to theirs. Much due to curiosity, they explored that area at night and found real devils haunting the area. They were even low-classer than the Sevens Sins therefore they were only active at night. Dante and Vergil finished them in no time.

A Hell-Gluttony appeared before Dante and breathed out explosive gas. Dante quickly flipped backwards behind a Hell-Pride. However, the explosion still sent him crashing into a wall. Cursing silently, Dante got on his feet in time to evade another vicious hit from Hell-Pride.

Dante was now a little closer to Hell-Gluttony. Not wasting his chance, he rolled to its back and eliminated it with his Million Stab. When he was about to return to the Hell-Prides, they both fell in halves and broke into little fragments. Behind where the devils were standing was Vergil, who released his hand on his katana's hilt.

"Need a hand?" Vergil asked despite knowing what his brother's reply will be.

"Hey, I was just about to finish them off," Dante protested. "Did you get any upstairs?"

"No," Vergil replied. From Dante's face, he guessed he didn't get a similar phone call from Rune. Why did Rune approach him instead of Dante? Perhaps he knew Vergil will listen but Dante won't. Did that infer Rune was familiar with their personalities? May be they were more well-known than they thought…

"Vergil?" Dante's voice snapped Vergil out of his thoughts.

"I think we should check on Rei. We don't want her to be taken as well," Vergil said.

Dante agreed and they both hurried down to the basement. Before they reached Rei, they could already smell the foul smell of devils and scent of human blood. When they found her, Rei was being cornered by a bunch of Hell-Lust. She was too occupied and busy blasting away the devils with her shotgun than to notice the twins. Vergil and Dante noted that her arm was cut but it wasn't a deep wound. Though she was in a tough situation, Rei's face showed no fear but the pressure was forcing her to take desperate actions.

Vergil took on the ones on the left whereas Dante tackled the ones on the left. Rei noticed their presence but concentrated on the battle. After a short while, all the Hell-Lust were cleared.

"Thanks for coming in time," Rei thanked both of them. "I guess I was a little too confident." She felt embarrassed to look at them.

"That's fine," Vergil said. "How's your arm?"

"It's just a small cut, nothing to worry about," Rei answered. She was totally amazed how strong her helpers were. They chopped and diced and blow around ten enemies into pieces within minutes. She never expected to be able to hire people as powerful as them two. "Who are you guys anyway? You look like you were born to slay those devils."

Dante was about to begin but Vergil held up his hand to stop him. "May be you should answer our questions first. Why did the devils capture your sister? And why did they let you know where she is?"

Rei was silent for a while before she spoke. "That's none of your concern. You just need to rescue my sister and I'll pay you."

"If you can't answer that, I'm afraid we can't help you further," Vergil said simply.

Dante was about to protest but knowing how stubborn his brother was, he just crossed his arms without a word.

Now that Vergil asked her directly, Rei didn't have a choice. She needed them to go along with her. "Alright," Rei said at last. "I'll fill you in as we go up."

As they began to ascend from the second basement floor to the floors above, Rei began. "Vergil, Dante," She asked whilst looking to the ground. "Do you believe in things like the Underworld, Gate, summoners and barrier manipulators?"

Dante and Vergil paused their pace for a moment. They looked at each other and shrugged before regaining their pace. "In fact," Dante replied. "We do."

"Well, this may still sound crazy to you. My ancestors carried a bloodline of supernatural powers. These powers had been passed onto Mia and me. The devils want our power for something – that's why they want us," Rei explained.

Quite astounded by what Rei said to them, Dante asked. "Ok. So, what powers of yours are they after?"

Rei removed her gaze from the floor, her pale green eyes met Dante's ice blue ones. "I'm a summoner and Mia is a barrier manipulator. Even though I'm not exactly sure why the demons want us for, I suspect it is something to do with the seal of Mundus."

"You mean the prince of the Underworld, Mundus?" Vergil asked.

Nodding, Rei continued. "Have you ever heard of the legend of Sparda? My mother once told me about him. Sparda was a devil yet he rebelled against his own kind to save humanity. He defeated Mundus' army and sealed him for a long time. Sparda even created a seal on the Gate that joins both worlds so devils cannot harm humans."

"Our mother used to tell us that tale all the time," Dante said.

"You mean, the devils want you and Mia to open up the Gate and unseal Mundus for them?" Vergil asked.

Rei nodded, "That's exactly what I'm thinking."

"Right…" Dante said. He then remembered to ask Rei something. "Hey by the way, what does your sister look like? Just in case we got separated and one of us found her."

"You can't miss her," Rei smiled, now she seemed to be more relaxed around the two. "We look exactly the same. Because like you and Vergil, we are identical twins."

Author's note: I'm so glad to receive the reviews. Thanks everyone. I was so worried that people might hate it because Dante is slightly out of character. His personality is a little different due to Vergil's influences. But hey this is a fan fiction after all.I'll be in trouble if I do thisin the scriptof DMC4.As always, please review!

Date written: 01-03-2005


	4. Chapter 4: The Fall

First Mission

Disclaimer: All original characters from Devil May Cry belong to Capcom. This is a non-profit fan fiction.

Chapter 4: The Fall

"What floor is this?" Dante said in an irritated tone. The three of them had been climbing the stairs for more than two hours. Every floor they were challenged by tougher enemies.

"The twentieth floor," Vergil replied. His brother was getting tired and he knew it. However, they still hadn't found any clues as to where Mia was. All they could do was check floor by floor.

"You actually kept count?" Dante asked.

"Well I know you won't," Vergil said. "Anyway, quit complaining and let's get a move on."

"I'm not-" Dante began but was interrupted.

"Hey guys look!" Rei quickly opened the door to the twentieth floor and entered before they could carry on. The twins stopped their quarrel and followed her in. They shone their torches around the room but didn't find anything. There was nothing at all. The room was empty.

An empty room? Rei thought. It puzzled her because that was the first floor that they didn't find anything. A tint of red reflected to her when she shone her torch on the area of the floor that was in the center of the room. It resembled something Rei recognised.

"Something's not right," Dante said, frowning over his uneasiness. He was getting a strange feeling that he couldn't really tell why.

"Yeah," Vergil agreed. He was experiencing the same feeling as Dante. "We should get out of here."

"Hang on a sec," Rei said as she went to examine the shiny red object on the ground. At the same moment, the ground beneath her feet began to shake violently. A huge crack appeared from one end of the room and quickly extended to the other end. The entire building was splitting apart.

The movement came so suddenly, none of the three had time to hold onto anything before falling into the gap.

"Vergil! Dante!" Rei called out to the twins. There was nothing she could do to stop herself from falling.

"Dante!" Vergil called out to his brother, who was closer to Rei than he was.

"Give me your hand!" Dante reached out for Rei. Rei had to try a couple of times before she managed to hold onto his hand. It was difficult for all of them to move in mid-air. Dante reached for Vergil's hand, who already had his katana, Yamato, out of its sheath. With one hand holding it and the other holding his brother's hand, Vergil struck his katana into the side of the building in order to slow down their fall.

Rocks and dust filled the air as Yamato sliced down the concrete carrying the three. The speed of their fall reduced gradually and at the end they came to a stop. Fortunately they stopped about two metres above the ground, so they landed without trouble. Vergil's right arm was painful from enduring the impact between his sword and the building as well as carrying two people as he did so. However, he kept it to himself.

"Woo-hoo!" Dante said aloud as he landed on his feet. "That was quite a ride. I think we can suggest this new idea to theme parks."

Vergil and Rei both gave him a disapproving looks. "You guys are no fun," Dante sighed.

"What on earth happened?" Rei asked, while looking at where they had landed. They had fallen into the sewage system under Moon Corporation. There was debris of the building scattered everywhere; some were as big as refrigerators, some were as small as coins. They couldn't see the sky above them because the debris blocked it completely.

"The building…it was almost like it came alive," Vergil said.

"What did you see on the floor back up there?" Dante asked Rei.

"It was Mia's earring," Rei said and showed them a red ruby earring on her right ear beneath her hair. "I have the other one."

"At least we know she was either there or had been there," Vergil said.

Yet, none of them had any idea what triggered the event that caused the building to fall apart. By any means, all of them agreed they needed to get out of where they were. There were two ways they could go. Vergil went to explore the path on the right and Dante to the left, while Rei waited for them.

Minutes later, the brothers returned to where Rei waited. "My side is a dead end," Vergil told them his findings. "The party is this way," Dante gestured the path were he went.

They went along the left path until they reached a huge pipe. Dante climbed in the pipe, the others followed. The pipes were like a maze. They lost directions a few times and went around in circles. But at the end they managed to jump out into a new area.

The place looked like a large cave with a huge door at the end. Around the door was the same building material as the Moon Corp building. In front of the door was a gigantic round hole that was at least fifteen meters in diameter. They couldn't see anything inside the pitch-black void. Dividing the hole in perfect halves was a straight but narrow pathway in the middle. Dante tried to open the door but it was firmly sealed. Rei wished Mia was there; her sister could break the seal effortlessly.

Before the hole stood a piece of marble stone with words engraved. "The door leads to the territory of demons of the human world. Those who wishes to enter must confront the door guard," Rei read. Vergil stood beside her.

Dante raised an eyebrow when he heard the words door guard. Abruptly, the ground began to shake again, this time less severely. "Stand back!" Vergil pulled Rei back by her arm, away from the hole. An enormous cobra-looking creature appeared from the hole, right in front of them.

"This is not a place for humans to step foot on," The cobra hissed. Its wide golden eyes caused Rei sent chills up her spine as it stared at them. The creature had black and green striped scales on its body. Only its upper part of the body was visible to them, the lower part was hidden beneath the hole. Its upper body alone was at least three storeys high.

"You need a lesson on how to treat your guests," Dante said to the cobra.

The cobra spun back quickly to face Dante. Its tongue stuck out as though to sense the air. It turned about to look at Vergil before facing Dante again. "That smell…you two are Sparda's sons."

"Sparda's…!" Rei looked at Vergil and Dante, startled by the news. Vergil could tell she was demanding an answer from them. But none of the twins said anything to her.

"You know quite a bit don't you, snake," Dante said to the cobra. "Perhaps you'd know where the girl we need is as well?"

"The High Priestess, you mean? The girl with the same face as the one here," The cobra said.

"You've met Mia?" Rei asked anxiously. She hoped more than anything that her twin sister was safe.

"I cannot answer any more of your questions," The cobra said. "If you desire to go through, you must defeat me."

"How about telling us where the girl is as well if we do?" Dante said.

"If you defeat me," The cobra said.

Vergil was about to draw out his katana to prepare himself for the battle but Dante halted him. "Let me do it," Dante said to his brother. "Fine," Vergil returned Yamato to its sheath. "Don't make me have to clean up for your mess later." Taking Rebellion into his hands, Dante smirked. "Don't worry, you won't have a chance to."

Rei and Vergil moved back further away from Dante and cobra so they wouldn't be caught up in the fight.

It was Dante who made the first move. He lunged forward to cut the cobra's body but it was as hard as steel. The cobra attempted to body slammed him but Dante evaded. To his surprise, the cobra shot out green beams from its mouth. Dante blocked it with his sword just in time but the impact caused the surface to sizzle. If it were any ordinary sword and not Rebellion, it would have melted. Dante decided to wait for an opening before he strikes again while busy dodging various attacks that were thrown at him.

Watching the battle from a distance, Vergil was analysing the cobra's moves as well as its territory. The fight was a disadvantage one for his younger brother. Dante only had a small space (enough for a few people to stand side by side) between the hole and the door, as well as the narrow pathway to move around. The cobra was blocking the way to the other side most of the time. Unless Dante's timing is perfect, otherwise he is trapped on one side. On the other hand, the cobra could move easily and assault with deadly agility.

Rei was worried about Dante as well. However, but she couldn't get the question that she want to ask Vergil out of her mind. She needed to know the connection between the twins and Sparda. "Vergil," Rei said his name to get his attention. "Are you and Dante both demons?"

"No," Vergil turned around to face her instead of watching the fight. "We are half-demons. Our mother was human."

"I see…" Rei trailed off into thoughts. No wonder they were so strong, she thought. It was due to the demonic blood that was flowing through their veins. She wondered how a human woman came to marrying a demon.

"Who are you exactly?" Vergil asked her.

"Huh?" Rei was surprised by his question.

"Are you Rei; or are you Mia?" Vergil asked. His expression was stern.

"You still don't believe me, do you?" Rei said in a disappointed tone. Her eyes looked a bit sad. "I don't blame you. It's hard for anyone to believe me." No one will trust you; nor there is anyone to trust…she thought bitterly.

Vergil didn't answer. His gaze shifted back to his brother's battle, but his mind was elsewhere.

Author's Note: Thanks for those who picked up on my mistakes. I'll proofread a few more times before releasing each chapter in the future. I've been busy playing DMC3 lately. By the way I've up to mission20 (in normal mode of Japanese version)! Just need to defeat the final boss. Reviews are very much appreciated. They are my energy to continue with this fan fiction.

Date written: 10-3-2005


	5. Chapter 5: The Trespassing

First Mission

Chapter 5: The Trespassing

Rune was alone in the Cathedral, looking into a round pound that allowed him to see wherever he wanted. There was no artificial light. The place was lit by millions of candles. His intruders were having a hard time against the door guard. Although he needed them to enter Domain, it amused him to watch them from a distance.

"Rune!" The door opened. All the candles' flame flickered like the breeze from the outside invited them to dance. A woman in dark blue entered and joined Rune in front of the pound. She didn't seem pleased to find Rune where he was.

"Niji," Rune greeted her cheerfully. "What brought you here?"

"You know what," Niji said with her arms crossed, frowning at the same time. "You know the other girl is here. Why aren't you doing anything?"

"Patience, Niji," Rune said. "We have Mia already. We'll get Rei in no time. Besides, our powers are stronger here than outside. It's better for us to wait for them to come in."

"We don't have time. If by midday today we still don't have her, we have to wait another century to unseal Prince Mundus," Niji said.

"Don't worry," Rune said in a carefree tone. "If we are lucky, I might've gotten one of them thinking. By the way, where is Zorlin?"

"Why ask me? He's probably checking on the seal's condition," Niji answered. "Anyhow, as soon as the kids come in, I'll take care of them."

"As you like," Rune watched as Niji left the room, closing the door behind her.

Wiping off the blood on his face, Dante watched every moves of his enemy. He had been spending the last fifteen minutes or so studying the giant reptile. However, most of the time was actually spent on jumping and rolling out of the snake's way. Dante was able to avoid the major attacks so far but got a fair amount of minor cuts here and there. The only weakness he found was the cobra's eyes and its mouth when it's not releasing its killer beam. Ebony and Ivory were almost no use because they dealt very little damage.

The cobra executed another body slam on Dante. This time, it predicted where he would evade. Not planning on missing its chance, the reptile bit Dante on the leg and threw him towards Vergil and Rei's direction. The force sent him crashing on the ground, stirring up dust in the air.

"Dante!" Rei cried and hurried to his side. Vergil followed right behind her. "What are you doing? Help him!" Rei said to Vergil desperately. Though still conscious, Dante's left leg was bleeding badly.

"He'll throw a fit if I try to help him," Vergil replied. He wanted to help Dante as well but he knew his brother wouldn't like it.

"This is not the time to say that!" Rei said.

"He's right," Dante used Rebellion to help him get to his feet. "Just watch." After saying that, Dante ran back to where the cobra was, picking up speed as he did so. Just before reaching his enemy, Dante dashed quickly to the side and air hiked, placing himself behind the cobra's head. Using a broken steel pipe that was sticking out from the wall as a stepping-stone, Dante was able to jumped onto the cobra's head. He didn't waste a second to strike the cobra's gold eyes with Rebellion.

The cobra screeched in pain. It threw Dante on the ground but he landed on his feet firmly. Green blood was gashing out of the creature's eyes. Rei winced at the gruesome sight. She went to Dante's side to see how he was. She ripped off one of her t-shirt's sleeves. "Stand still," She told him.

"You don't really have to do this, the bleeding will stop soon," Dante said. He was referring to the fact that he was part demon.

"But you're human too, right?" Rei said. "Sorry, I can only do this much," she said softly. Sometimes Rei just wished she had healing powers instead of summoning powers. It would make her feel less useless in situations like this. Dante said nothing and let her take care of his wound. He turned to face the fallen cobra, which is now resting its head on the ground. "I think you have something to tell me, don't you?"

"I have witnessed your strength, son of Sparda. You may enter Domain. The girl you are looking for is kept a room called Eighth Floor. Once you are in there, keep going until you reached the end. The room is near there," The injured cobra said. "If you want to save her, you better hurry. Otherwise she won't live past today."

"What do you mean?" Rei asked. She had finished with Dante.

"Zorlin is planning on using the Priestesses to open up the seal of Mundus and the Underworld. Knowing him, her chances of surviving afterwards is slim," said the cobra.

Rei checked her watch and her heart almost stopped. "There's only eight hours left!" She told the twins.

"That doesn't sound good," Dante commented.

"Who is Zorlin?" Vergil asked.

"Zorlin is Mundus minion. He was regarded as the right hand of Mundus," The guardian replied. The way it spoke gave them the feeling it was telling the truth.

The three went past the cobra and opened the door of Domain. The seal on the door was automatically disabled after defeating its guardian. Dante went in first, followed by Vergil and Rei. "Thank you," Rei said to the cobra before closing the door. She was grateful of it. It didn't need to inform them about their enemies anything at all yet it did.

The inside of Domain was nothing like any of them expected. They were standing at the beginning of a long corridor. The interior was finely polished with tiled floor and high ceiling. On both side of the wall of the corridor hang a number of oil paintings. It was like an underground mansion.

"Why would there be a place like this here?" Rei glanced upwards to examine the crystal lamps that hang from the ceiling as they made their way to the other end.

"They sure know how to live life," Dante said while he looked at the each of the paintings they walk pass. All paintings depicted the suffering of sinners in the underworld. Mysterious powers seemed to want to suck the viewers into the paintings if looked at for too long. He found walking carefully so that his injury would hurt less was too much of a bother, so he just walked normally.

Vergil's attention was more on the lack of demons' presence in the enemy's territory. Back in skyscraper, he could feel demons where lurking even if he couldn't see they physically. However, he couldn't feel anything in Domain.

To the others' surprise, Vergil spoke. "Rei, how come the demons were able to get Mia but not you?"

"That's right, I almost forgot to mention that," Rei realised. "Ever since we were born, we had to wear protection charms to hide our presence from demons." She took out a silver locket that she wore around her neck to show Dante and Vergil. "Yesterday, Mia forgot to wear hers so I went home to get it for her while she waited for me. But when I got back, I was only in time to see her being taken away. I couldn't do anything." Her expression darkened.

"How lucky for the demon was that?" Dante said. "Your sister lost her locket the day before the demons want to use you two to unseal the gate to the demon world?"

"We found it strange too," Rei admitted. "Since we always wear it, even when we sleep. By the way, the locket not only erase our presence, it suppresses our power too. I can't use my summoning powers when I'm wearing it."

"Well, we want to give them a surprise when they find us. So you better leave it on," Dante said. Rei nodded.

By that time they had reached the end of the corridor. Further in front was a narrow pathway, slightly wider than the one Dante fought on before but not as long, which led to with a decagonal platform in the middle of bottomless pitch. There were nine different paths they could take. Including the one they came from, there were ten altogether. All the pathways looked exactly the same and joint from the platform to a doorway each. What laid beyond the doorways would only be known to those who chose to walk them.

Before moving on, Vergil made a mark on top of the doorway they came from with Yamato. Dante looked down to the hole after they all walked down onto the platform. "This looks like it'll make a longer fall then the last one. Man, people here just love to dig holes." Even though he knew the underworld was in another dimension, the deepness and the daunting atmosphere gave him a feeling like they were getting closer to it.

Rei gasped when she saw a few demons appear from the doorway closest to her. Soon, demons began to flood in from the rest of the doors except one. All the demons were part the seven sins – Hell-Pride, Hell-Lust, Hell-Gluttony, Hell-Envy, Hell-Wrath, Hell-Greed and Hell-Sloth. "The host is good at giving us directions don't you think?" Dante said sarcastically. They were backing off to the only path without demons with their own weapons on their hands.

Dante aimed for the ones closest to them with Ebony and Ivory. "You two move on, I'll take care of this," Vergil said to his companions. Dante wasn't in perfect shape so it would be better if he stay out of battles. Rei, who had little combat power, should do the same.

"But…" Rei didn't like the idea at all. The place was packed with demons and more were on their way. Several Hell-Greed were summoning more demons with their coffins. More than fifty pairs of blood-red eyes were staring at them.

Dante looked at Vergil. His brother was determined; there was nothing could change his mind. Vergil stood on the pathway, blocking the way of the demons. "Come on!" Dante said to Rei, who was still reluctant to leave. Rei took a last glance at Vergil before following Dante. "He can handle them," Dante reassured her, although he hadn't quite convinced himself. Rei silently hoped he was right.

Author's note: I don't think I had been writing the author's note with appropriate content. Argh, what the heck, I'll just write what I like. For those who are wondering how old the characters are (anyone?), Dante and Vergil are eighteen years old and Rei is a year younger.

I beat DMC3 two days ago. To not spoil those who haven't finished it, I would just say I found the ending quite sad. Let's keep our fingers crossed and hope there will be a DMC4. Please take a few moments review for me.

Date written: 12-03-2005


	6. Chapter 6: The Mirrors

Devil May Cry: Zero

Disclaimer: All original characters from Devil May Cry belong to Capcom. This is a non-profit fan fiction.

Chapter 6: The Mirrors

* * *

After a struggle through half a dozen of Engima that congested the way, Dante and Rei reached the next area. Although Rei was not as strong as Dante or Vergil in combat skills, her aim was accurate. She used her shotgun to stun the four-legged demons first, followed by a finishing blow from Dante before the Engima could release their deadly needles. 

They found themselves in a pathway filled with mirrors from top to bottom. The mirrors came in different sizes but were mostly rectangular shaped. There were hundreds of reflections of Dante and Rei since the mirrors reflect each other as well. When she first saw her own reflection, Rei almost thought she found Mia. The place they were at was called the Mirror Walk. It consisted of pathways joining another one another. It was almost like a mice maze made entirely with mirrors. Dante and Rei went through the paths to find the exit but soon lost directions. They didn't even remember how to go back to where they came from.

"This is so much fun," Dante said in frustration. He felt like they had been going in circles for hours. "Damn this, how much time do we have left?" He asked his client but found her no longer behind him. Dante quickly went back to the last pathway that he thought he came by. Unfortunately, there were no signs of Rei. Only the reflections of himself remained.

Rei was feeling tired and edgy from running in the identical, tunnel-like pathways. She was following Dante closely until he made turn in front; then she just lost sight of him. It was weird because they had been making countless turns before but he just seemed to had disappeared within air at the last one. It was the only explanation she could give herself because she had been keeping up with the devil hunter. Dante made a turn to the right while she was still in the previous path. Rei was only a few seconds behind him but when she head left, Dante was no longer there. She went to the left pathway as well as the one on right but didn't find anyone.

After a while, Rei began to call out Dante's name, hoping he would hear her if he happened to be near. It was a risky thing to do because the demons might find out where she was but she didn't have a choice. Rei felt miserable. She lost her way as well as her helper. She wasn't anywhere near find Mia either. Time was ticking away slowly, which meant it was getting closer to midday. Instead of running like she was before, Rei slowed down and walked instead. A pathway in front of her appeared different from the others. Rei quickened her pace to look at where it led.

"Rei!" Dante called. He looked everywhere but couldn't find her. For a moment, Dante felt warmth in his coat's pocket. Digging out the object, he found it to be his mother's amulet. Because Dante always had it with him, he almost forgot he brought it along as well. He only owned half of the actual item; the other half was given to Vergil. The amulet was made up of a large red stone with silver frame around it. It was glowing faintly like fading fire. Dante had never seen it glow before for as long as he had it.

He decided to mention it to Vergil the next time he sees him. To his surprise, Rei found him just after he put the half amulet away.

"Dante!" Rei was happy to find him. "Where were you? I thought I lost you." She said.

"Yeah…same," Dante said. For some reason, he didn't seem glad to see her. Even though his way of expressing gladness was different to normal people, he had a way of showing it that was probably known to his brother only.

"I've found the exit," Rei told him excitedly. "It's this way, let's go." She led Dante towards another path. They didn't get very far before Rei heard the sound of a gun being drawn out. Dante was pointing Ebony at her.

"Dante?" Rei looked shocked.

"You are not Rei," Dante said. He sounded very serious.

"This is not funny, Dante," Rei said.

The devil hunter simply pulled the trigger at her. As he expected, the figure in front of him shattered like glass.

"How did you find out?" A voice came behind him. Dante turned around and found himself – his reflection to be exact – standing in front of him. "You shouldn't be able to sense the aura of demons here. I could have been Mia as well."

"I can't," Dante replied. "But there is a special quality that the real Rei has that you don't. She's different. I'm sure her sister is the same."

"I see," The mirror demon said. "Nonetheless, you will not go any further." Having said that, many fake Dante walked out of the mirrors. Dante was surrounded by the replications of his own reflection.

"Right-o," Dante drew out Ivory with his other hand. "I was just getting bored."

Vergil cut apart another Hell-Sloth that stood in his way. He couldn't remember how many of those he killed. If he didn't eliminate the Hell-Greed first, they just kept coming back. The problem was that Hell-Greed called upon others of it kind as well, even if there was one left standing. He needed to get rid of all of them as soon as they appeared. As simple as it might sound, it was almost impossible because the other Hells would lung at him at every chance they got. At least the area was small so he didn't have to waste time looking for the demons. On the contrary, Vergil needed to be extra careful since he was so close to them. In addition, he had to make sure he wasn't close to the edge. Escape was not an option. Although he didn't like the idea of running away, Vergil didn't want to waste time on them either. However, all the paths were sealed so unless he defeated all demons, he couldn't go anywhere.

A few Hell-Lust closed in on Vergil from different directions. He found them most annoying because not only they were agile, their scythe attack dealt quite a bit of damage. Using his three-slash combo, Vergil killed three, dodged another but the last one came from above and wounded his shoulder. At the same time he found himself near the last Hell-Greed. Ignoring the other demons, Vergil unleashed another combo with Yamato to finish it off. His injured shoulder lowered his speed slightly but Vergil was able to slay all the remaining demons.

Clutching onto his sword with one hand, Vergil lowered himself on one knee to catch his breath. He was worn out from the battle in which he almost fought off a roomful of Hells that were capable of multiplying their number. It was the first time he ever battled so many of them alone. Using the sleeve of his coat, Vergil wiped off the sweat on his forehead. He noted that the seals that once blocked the paths were gone.

Something in his coat pocket was releasing a red glow. Vergil took out his mother's amulet. It was glowing faintly as though it was reacting to something. The amulet was a gift from the mother that him and Dante both lost. Their mother never told them what it was for. She just wanted them to protect it and never give their piece to anyone. None of the twins ever thought the amulet had hidden powers.

Suddenly, he could hear the sound of hands clapping in the room. Vergil quickly searched for the origin of the sound. "Are you enjoying yourself?" A man appeared to be in his mid-twenties spoke in a light-hearted tone. He stood not far away from him. The man had dark brown hair and silver-coloured eyes. His shirt and trousers were black.

"It's you," Vergil said coldly, narrowing his eyes. He recognised that he had the same voice as the person he spoke on the phone just hours before.

"You found out about the girl, haven't you?" Rune asked, smiling as he did. "I told you the truth."

"You're wasting your time," Vergil said. "You are way less trust-worthy than her." He pointed his katana at Rune. Yamato was as sharp as new despite the number of demons it slew.

"In that case, you better hurry," Rune suggested. He wasn't angry at all. "They have been separated," He added.

Vergil didn't know why Rune was telling him that, but he didn't think he was joking either. He put away Yamato and headed for the path where his brother and Rei went. His injured shoulder was still bleeding. It hurt terribly but Vergil didn't have time to treat it. Rune watched him leave. The only thing he was interested in what would happen next.

The Domain never failed to surprise Rei. As soon as she left Mirror Walk, Rei saw a lake in front of her. It was a lake inside a cave. Round pebbles lain under the crystal clear water. It would have been an ordinary lake if it had plants and animals in it. There were no signs of life in the water. The deepness of the lake was shown by the colour of the water. It was light around the edge and was darkest in the middle. She could vaguely make out there was some sort of path at the other end of the lake. However, there was no land between where she stood and the other side. What appeared like a possible route were large round boulders that were scattered all over the lake. About a quarter of the boulders' surface was exposed above the water. Rei thought against the idea of jumping onto them because the distance between each one was too great for her. She couldn't make it.

After a mental debate about whether she should wait for Dante first or go on by herself, Rei decided to check out how deep the water was first. She knew well that there could be danger in the innocent looking water, but she couldn't let Dante and Vergil take all the risks. It was her who put them in danger so Rei felt she had responsibilities to do what she can. She put her feet in the water and was surprised to find herself standing on the water. It was as though the water was frozen. Rei walked to the center of the lake.

"Welcome to Lagoon," A water pillar rose from the lake and out came a woman. Her long hair was in different shades of blue, just like the colours of the lake. The waves in it were like gentle waves of the ocean. She was wearing a dark blue outfit.

"Who are you?" Rei asked, looking the woman suspiciously. Her spring-green eyes were locked firmly onto the stranger.

The woman smiled at her. "I'm Niji. I can take you to your sister."

Rei drew out her shotgun and pointed it at her. Where Niji once stood became a blur. Rei quickly scanned around her but before she could react, Niji had already bent her arms behind her back. Her right hand was still holding onto her gun.

"You are one of those people who took Mia away, right?" Rei asked angrily. Niji's grip was stronger than she thought. She struggled but it was no use. Rei wished she could use her summons but she was still wearing the locket that suppressed her power.

Niji looked at the struggling girl with her sapphire blue eyes. She was quite impressed by Rei's courage. "I suppose you're right. Not that it really matters now. It's time for us to go."

Unexpectedly, a bullet was shot towards Niji. She had to let go of Rei in order to dodge it.

"Dante!" Rei had never felt so relieved. Dante stood at the entrance to the lake with Ebony and Ivory in his hands.

"Going to the party without me? I don't think so," Dante said with a smirk.

* * *

Author's note: I can't believe I forgot to allow anonymous reviews as well. I feel like an idiot. Sorry about that everyone. The stupid author (me) is too careless and clumsy. Anyone should be able to review now. Thank you for those who are reviewed for me and for your continuous support. 

Date written: 15-3-2005


	7. Chapter 7: The Lagoon

Devil May Cry: Zero

Disclaimer: All original characters from Devil May Cry belong to Capcom. This is a non-profit fan fiction.

Chapter 7: The Lagoon

* * *

The battle with the mirror demon was more difficult than Dante imagined. His reflections were only vulnerable to bullets; therefore Rebellion was no use against them. Ebony and Ivory were effective but there were too many of them as a result he couldn't eliminate every single one of them in time. Dante had several close calls when his reflections almost sliced him in pieces with their fake Rebellion swords. 

For a while, Dante could not tell where the demon was hiding. He was sure it was in one of the mirrors but there were dozens surrounding him. It wasn't until he noticed that one of them move in and out of mirrors whilst other ones didn't. With precise timing, Dante shot the mirror demon. The moment he did, the rest disappeared. Without the interference of the mirror demon, he was able to find the exit and Rei in time.

"You are one of the sons of Sparda?" Niji asked. She didn't seem to be concerned about the fact that Dante was there.

Dante had enough. "I have a name you know. It's Dante."

"You look a lot like your father," Niji said, smiling.

"I think I'm better looking than him," Dante grinned. While they were talking, Rei headed back to Dante's side but Niji made the surface of the lake suddenly became slippery and caused Rei to lose her footing.

"Too bad I don't have time right now," Niji said. "See you later." She clicked her fingers and the water in the lake turned into normal liquid state. Only the area where she and Rei were could still be stood on. Niji was heading to where Rei was. Immediately, Dante fired his guns at her but being ready this time, Niji raised a wall of water to block the bullets. At the same time, Rei removed the locket on her neck that suppressed her power and closed her eyes to concentrate on a summon. Even though Rei knew she might not summon before Niji reach her, she had to gamble her luck. A circle of light surrounded her the moment she began.

If Rei was given a few more seconds, her summoning would have completed. It was too late; Niji was almost there before Rei could finish. Dante was heading for her by jumping on the large boulders but he wasn't going to make it. Someone appeared and before anyone could make out who it was, it approached Niji and attacked her with a blade-like object.

Niji looked at her attacker and realised he had the same face as Dante. Dante sighed in relieve to see his brother saving the day. He was glad that Vergil's had faster speed than him. It reminded him of the times Vergil used to train by himself while he fell asleep under the tree while watching.

"You're the other one then," Niji said to Vergil.

Vergil bent down to take a looked at Rei as though Niji wasn't there at all. "Are you alright?" He asked her. After Dante had defeated the mirror demon, Vergil was able find his way through Mirror Walk without much trouble. The mirror demon used to manipulate the paths to make intruders lose directions.

"I'm fine, thanks," Rei picked herself up from the ground. Then she noticed the blood on Vergil's coat. "Vergil, your shoulder…" Instead of replying, Vergil stood in front of her.

Rei could see Niji was approaching them. Dante, who finally made it to where the others were, joined in and stood beside his brother.

"You two head forward," Vergil said to his companions without taking his eyes off Niji.

"No, we're staying with you," Rei objected. She didn't want to leave anyone behind again. "We can fight too."

"That's right. Can't let you take all the credits," Dante added.

"How much time do we have left?" Vergil asked. Rei looked at her watch and understood his point straight away. "Six hours," She answered. Time was slipping away.

"We'll do it the usual way then." Dante took out a coin. "Head or tail?" He asked Vergil.

"Head," Vergil replied.

The coin was flipped into the air and landed on the back of Dante's hand. "I don't get why you're always luckier," Dante felt a little disappointed when he saw it landed on head. Having said that, he went towards the exit direction.

Rei wasn't moving. "No, we should either go together or stay together!" It didn't matter to her whether Vergil trust her or not. The last time they parted, she felt like they left him to be killed. It wasn't that she didn't have faith in him, but the enemies weren't as merciful as them.

"I'll meet up with you and Dante later," Vergil told her. "Remember what you're here for?"

Rei bit her lip. "I do, but I can't just leave like this!" She thought she must've sounded stupid, since she probably couldn't help much anyway. But she didn't care.

"Go," Vergil said. In his blue eyes she saw determination. Those eyes were so similar to Dante's but gave her a totally different feeling. They assured her that he would keep his words.

Before Rei left the Lagoon, she kneed down on both knees and closed her eyes. A circle of light appeared around her. Lines and shapes emerged within the circle; they united together and formed a complex diagram. The whole process took merely seconds to complete. As soon as the diagram was formed, the circle of light faded quickly and went out. Five wolves appeared outside Rei's summoning circle. She requested them to aid Vergil. There was no time for a powerful enough summon that could stand a chance against Niji; but bringing in help would be much easier.

The wolves had black fur all over. Their eyes were sharp and shone with intelligence. Vergil could tell those weren't normal wolves by their eyes. Rei put her locket around her neck again and hurried to Dante, who had been waiting.

It surprised Vergil a little that Niji let Rei and Dante go when she could do more to prevent them from doing so. She was looking at him with her arms folded. In fact, Niji was quite angry that they just ignored her. Her patience was wearing thin.

"Do you think you can really protect them by hindering me? If I don't get them, others will. I'm not the only one in Domain," Niji pointed out. She could see from Vergil's expression that he was not naïve.

Vergil returned Yamato to its sheath in order to prepare the next battle. "No, I probably can't do much other than stopping you," He said calmly. "But I believe they won't give up easily."

Niji laughed, "You really are your father's son." After saying that, the entire surface of the lake turned back to normal water, even the remaining part that was still solid before. Vergil saw it coming so he set foot on a boulder as soon as he saw their conversation's end. The wolves each landed safely the boulders as well. Not only that, they surrounded Niji in the middle.

Dozens of water blades materialized around Niji. Under Niji's direction, they were shot out together so fast that eyes could hardly keep up. Vergil landed onto a free boulder to avoid the blades. One of the wolves leaped towards Niji but she disappeared within a water pillar as quickly as she raised it. The wolves seemed to know where Niji would appear. Vergil followed them and turned out to be the right move. When she appeared out of her water pillar, Vergil unleashed a two-slash combo. He would have succeeded if he closed in sooner. Niji raised a wall of water around her to protect her from attacks from all directions. Vergil backed away to wait for his next chance.

The sound their footsteps echoed back to them as Dante and Rei hurried through the tiled walkway. There weren't any demons past Lagoon. Nonetheless, they both stayed alert in case of an ambush. Realised that Rei was slowing down, Dante waited for her to catch up. He couldn't blame her, Rei had been either walking or running around for the past ten hours without any rests. It was natural for any ordinary person to be tired. "Let's take a break," Dante said.

"I can keep going," Rei insisted. In fact, she was exhausted as well as dehydrated. Although she was not weak, she was human after all. Her throat felt so dry she could hardly speak. She couldn't pause and rest or else her legs might refuse to walk again. But the thought of her companion kept her going. She couldn't waste the time that Vergil was risking his life to buy her.

Dante ignored her and sat down. "I can't," He said. Dante leaned his back against the tiled wall, brought his hands behind his head and rest on them like a pillow.

"Dante, we have to go," Rei pleaded. However, the devil hunter had already shut his eyes for a nap. No matter what she said, he wouldn't respond. Rei sighed and gave up. They took a fifteen minutes break before setting off again.

At the end of the path was a wooden door similar to those common in churches. Dante pushed the door open with Rei followed closely behind. They glanced around cautiously; both had their guns ready for an assault. The Cathedral was beautiful yet creepy at the same time. Large stain-glass windows were located on their left and right sides. Countless number of candles were lined up in an orderly manner. Delicately crafted sculptures and statues were placed thoughtfully. Shadows that seemed to be able to reach out and grab them anytime were hiding in every corner. A small pound was situated in front of the alter but there was nothing unusual about it.

Further down the back was another door. The two left the Cathedral and continued forward. The next set of path was twisted and winding as well as steep. Downward was the direction it led. As they descend further below, Rei started to feel dizzy. She thought it was weird since she should've recovered a fair bit from the break. But then it probably still wasn't enough. Regardless, Rei couldn't afford spend more time on that so she didn't say anything. The air was thin in the twisted path and the lack of air circulation made Dante feel hot and uncomfortable. On top of that, there was something abnormal about it. It wasn't long before Rei stumbled forward and almost fell. She held onto the brick wall with her right hand support herself.

Rei's stumble confirmed Dante's suspicion. From the very first moment they stepped foot on the path, it was draining the energy in their body bit by bit. The path was used to prevent any human intruders who made it past the prior obstacles from going any further. Dante was half human and half demon; therefore he wasn't as affected as Rei, who was fully human.

"The frigging path doesn't like us," Dante said.

"Yeah…" Rei answered. She put hand on her head to help herself stay focused. "I can keep going."

Dante went ahead to take a look. "We're almost there," He called out to her from below. Taking a deep breath, Rei stood and forced herself to walk. At last, they made it to the bottom. The two of them felt much better the moment they left the wicked path.

Another door was in front of them. This time, the door was made of bronze. It had a picture of the eight levels of hell on it. Dante and Rei looked at each other. They were thinking about the same thing. The door must be the one that would lead to Eighth Floor, where Mia was held.

* * *

Author's note: This chapter is posted a little late. In the past few days, I've been whacking my head in order to plan the storyline of this fic. I did have vague ideas in terms of the direction of the story but not well-organised ones. It is just a fanfic but I don't want to have things not make sense later on. Now I think I've everything sorted out. I think I can feel steam coming out of my ears… 

Date Written: 19 March 2005


	8. Chapter 8: The Parting

Devil May Cry: Zero

Disclaimer: All original characters from Devil May Cry belong to Capcom. This is a non-profit fan fiction.

Chapter 8: The Parting

* * *

The Eighth Floor was a spacious cubic room. Not like Mia had expected five-star hospitality, but there was no furniture in the room at all. The titled floor under her feet felt icy cold no matter how long she sat there. There wasn't any other place for her to sit except the corner of the room. She could choose to sit anywhere but the corner gave her a sense of protection. Mia glanced at her watch. She had been there for almost a day. Damned Chest Pieces blocked the door to prevent her from escaping. For a few times she tried to sleep but she was afraid something might happen if she did. She was worried about Rei and her father. They were her only family that ever cared about her. 

In the middle of the room was a special round tile that can be used to travel to the floor below. It worked like an elevator. A while ago, Zorlin went down to check the seal. Mia wasn't sure when he would return and drag her down to break the seal on the Gate cast by Sparda. However, he wouldn't be able to unseal Mundus completely without Rei. Mundus required a guide to lead him and his army to the human world, and only Rei's summoning powers could achieve that. That was how powerful Sparda's seal was. Mia only hoped the devils wouldn't find Rei in time. However, knowing Rei, she was probably looking everywhere for her.

The large bronze door creaked opened slowly. Mia stood up alertly, expecting it to be one of Zorlin's subordinates. To her surprise, a silver-haired young man whom she hadn't seen before came through. He had a gun on each hand, one black and the other white. There was another person with him. Mia couldn't believe it. It was Rei.

They saw each other at the same time. The Damned Chest Pieces responded to the presence of strangers and began to move. Pawns moved first, followed by Knight and Bishops. Dante picked the ones on the side to deal with first to make way for Rei to go through. Immediately, Mia ran up to her sister.

"Mia!" Rei was so glad to find Mia unharmed. The tightness in her chest loosened simultaneously. "Are you all right?" She asked.

"I should be the one asking you," Mia frowned as she replied. Her twin sister had cuts and bruises all over. The dirt on Rei's face didn't hide her paleness. Red and green stains were found on her clothes that resemble awfully like demon blood. On top of that, a sleeve was missing from her shirt. "How did you find this place?" She asked, rubbing off some dirt on Rei's face with her hand. Behind them, Dante was busy dealing with the Chest Pieces.

"The demons left a message behind after they got you. I found two task-takers who helped me to get here. But it's a long story," Rei answered. "Anyway, we have to get out of here."

Mia looked at her gratefully but shook her head. "I can't. They are looking everywhere for you. If I go with you, we'll be caught together. You should leave now, the demon leader is going to come back soon." She knew her sister wouldn't like the idea, yet she must try to convince her.

In a way, Rei could see it coming from Mia. She understood her twin too well. But, why they must make such decisions? "You're probably right. Destiny can't be changed. May be we really shouldn't exist." Rei looked at Mia in the eyes. "But if there is a chance…I want to try change destiny."

"Rei…" Mia said softly. She could understand her sister's pain better than anyone.

Dante blew up the last couple of Damned Pawns with his handguns. The Chest Pieces weren't strong although they took him a while to finish them off. After putting his guns back into the holders behind his back, he went over to Rei and Mia. He studied the other girl closely. Both girls had the same grass-green eyes, silky black hair and slim figure. There was no doubt they were identical twins. Their outfits were different though. Mia wore jeans instead of a skirt like Rei. Dante thought it was a little ironic that Mia was suppose to be the one to be rescued yet Rei was in worse shape than her. Still, he was glad that Vergil's suspicion about Rei was wrong.

Dante couldn't help but interrupt the conversation. "Look, it's not that hard. Your job is waiting to be saved and my job is to save you," he said to Mia.

"I didn't ask you to come," Mia argued, slightly irritated by his rudeness.

"Please, Mia," Rei pleaded. She was beginning to worried about how Vergil was as well.

Mia sighed and smiled. She couldn't remember being able to reject her sister's begs. Rei had a way to make her give in. "I'm sorry. I can't believe I thought about giving up." She was touched by her sister's kindness and courage.

"By the way, this is Dante." Rei introduced the devil hunter to her sister. The two of the shook hands reluctantly.

"Well then," Miaclapped her hands together. "Let's get out of here!"

One of the wolves jumped onto Niji whilst she had her attention on the other four. She used her arm to block its bite. Vergil saw an opening so he attempted to attack her from behind. If this was a ground battle, it would have been much easier. It was hard to fight on water. It was more difficult when the enemy could use water in any way she wanted. Despite having a wolf on her arm, Niji directed a pillar of water towards Vergil. The water knocked the devil hunter into the lake like a giant hammer. Niji saw another wolf was going to leap at her, so she tossed the one on her arm, making them crash into each other.

Vergil swam to the nearest piece of boulder. He was dripping wet from head to toes. The weight of the water that his clothes soaked up made him feel heavier. Some of his hair blocked his sight after getting wet. Vergil brushed his fringe backwards using his hand. He was yet to figure out how to defeat the water controller. Niji's actions wasn't very fast nor her attacks hard to evade. The hardest part was to get close to her before she could react.

From a distance, Vergil could see blobs of water of the size of tennis balls forming on the surface of the lake. One by one they raised into the air like bubbles. All at the same time, thousands of water blobs dropped and exploded like mini bombs. Knowing it was impossible to avoid them all, Vergil tried to dodge as many as he could. The blobs exploded into pieces upon touching any object. After exploding, they turned into shreds and cut anything that went in their way. Vergil was hit about four times. Each blob was not very powerful by itself but together they hurt. He knew he must end the fight quickly before Niji could unleash another attack like the previous one.

The wolves appeared to have guessed what Vergil had in mind. They were all injured in the explosions in some ways but still found strength to circle around Niji once again. Vergil went up to her from behind again while the wolves kept her busy. It was, however, a fake move. Pretending to attack from behind fooled the water controller to concentrate on her back. A couple of wolves took that chance to bite Niji's legs. She cried out in pain. Vergil went around to her side and knocked her down using Yamato's sheath.

The lake's surface returned to its once frozen state. With her legs hurting badly, Niji struggled to get up. She gave Vergil a hateful stare before disappearing into a water pillar.

Before setting off to find Dante and Rei, Vergil nodded to the wolves to thank their helpfulness. One of the wolves strolled up and sat on the ground beside him. It looked at Vergil with its bright eyes. Vergil patted its head. Its fur was thickand smooth. The wolf showed affection as it was patted. All five wolves howled at the same time and vanished within the air.

Vergil followed the only route that Dante and Rei could've taken. Just when he was about to open the door to Cathedral, the door suddenly opened in front of him. Before he could see who was coming through, that person had already ran into him. Both of them fell back upon the collision and landed on the ground.

"Vergil!" Vergil heard Rei's voice. When he sat up and realised it was Dante who ran into him. He could almost see stars in front of his eyes.

"That's the other task-taker?" A girl who looked exactly like Rei asked. Instantly, Vergil knew she must be Mia. Rei nodded in response.

"Man, I'd prefer you tell me that you're hardheaded in another way," Dante grumbled while rubbing his sore head.

"Anyone who is not retardedcould see it was you who ran into me," Vergil stated as-a-matter-of-factly. The girls giggled at this precious scene.

Unnoticed by any of them, someone walked out of the shadows in the Cathedral. Perhaps it was partly because the colour of his clothes matched the surrounding so well. No one was aware of his presence until he spoke. "Finally, all the casts are here," Rune said in his usual carefree tone.

Dante drew out his guns and pointed them at the new enemy. He was a little surprised at his brother's lack of reaction. Of course, it wasn't Vergil's calmness and prudence that drew Dante's attention. Vergil had always been able to stay focused and collected in any situations. He was being wary of Rune's presence but he wasn't as nervous as he was supposed to be for seeing an enemy for the first time. It was like Vergil had met the stranger before.

Meanwhile, Vergil's attention was more on Rei and Mia. Rei looked shocked to see Rune. Beside her, Mia was shocked too but Vergil could see anger was building up in her eyes at the same time.

"No way…Rune?" Rei managed to say. She could hardly believe who she was seeing.

"I see, it was you who sold us out," Mia said in disgust. "No wonder they could find us."

"I'm sorry I couldn't say hello to you earlier," Rune said to the girls, not bothered by Mia's negative reaction.

"You know him?" Dante asked Rei. She didn't respond. Mia knew her sister was so distressed therefore she couldn't hear Dante.

"Why are you doing this? Do you…hate us so much?" Rei asked, confusion filled her elegant features. She took a step forward without knowing. Mia pulled her sister back before she could get closer to Rune. She feared he might do something weird to Rei. "Save your breath, it's no use talking to him," Mia said.

Vergil was beginning to be able to piece together the whole story. Some questions in his mind were answered but there were still many things he didn't understand. He tuned in to their conversation to try to grasp what was going on.

Rei was slowly taking in the truth. However, she was completely unaware of the fact that a black void was gradually forming behind her. Nobody noticed because everyone was listening to Mia and Rune. A pair of black hands reached out of the void andcovered Rei's mouth before pulling her into darkness.

* * *

Author's note: Mia finally makes an entrance in this chapter. It took longer than I originally planned. I needed to be careful with her because she has to be distinctively different from Rei in terms of her personality. 

Anyone ever wondered why the date written is always not the same as the day I post the chapters? That's because I usually finish with the next chapter before posting the previous one. By doing so, I can make changes to the story if I need to. Please review – it'd make my day!

Date Written: 23 March 2005


	9. Chapter 9: The Encounter

Devil May Cry: Zero

Disclaimer: All original characters from Devil May Cry belong to Capcom. This is a non-profit fan fiction.

Chapter 9: The Encounter

A bit of warning: This fanfic contains violence not suitable for those under 13 years of age.

* * *

Vergil had a feeling that something wasn't right. Why Rune decided to show himself at a time like this? Why not later or earlier? Suddenly he noticed Rei was no longer standing next to them. He turned around just to see her being pulled into darkness. Without thinking twice, he followed her a split second before the black void closed up. 

It all happened too quickly for Dante and Mia to do anything. Rushing forward, Dante grabbed Rune on his collar and pointed his gun under Rune's chin. "I don't like to play hide and seek," Dante told him.

"Where did you take Rei you creep?" Mia demanded.

"You'll see her again soon enough," Rune said. He wasn't slightly worried about the loaded gun pointing at him. After saying that, he simply vanished.

"Wait!" Mia called out but Rune was already gone. She clenched her fist, feeling angry and frustrated. It was obvious that he is toying with them but she couldn't do anything about it.

"Looks like it's just you and me now," Dante said sheepishly. Deep down he was concerned about the other two. It didn't take a genius to figure out Rei was in bad shape and Vergil wasn't looking a lot better her either.

"What do you think we should do?" Mia asked. She wasn't sure if she should ask Dante that way. To her, it felt a bit foolish to be so serious to someone as facetious as him. There were only two choices for them really: stay and find Vergil and Rei, or leave immediately to avoid being found by devils. According to Rei's personality, Mia guessed her sister would choose to leave Domain separately – that was if she still had her freedom.

Dante imagined what Vergil would do if they were separated. "We leave. They'll probably do the same," He put aside his sarcasm and said. He thought about asking about Rune but decided leave it until later.

"Yeah," Mia agreed. She didn't expect a serious answer from Dante.

Before they could make it out of Cathedral, something huge fell on the ground right in front of them with a loud thud. A huge spider of the size of a motorbike with human face stood in the way out menacingly. Apparently, it dropped from the ceiling. Dante looked up and saw at least ten more above their heads. These low class devils were called Arachnes. They looked like they hadn't been fed in a long time.

"Let me take that back. Looks like we've got company. The host has a way of making us stay behind for the party, don't you think?" Dante had Rebellion ready.

"If only they had better music I'd think about it," Mia answered. "Cut through this one quickly."

"We're not staying?" Dante asked jokingly.

"Just do as I said!" Mia hurried him, less patient this time. "Ok lady," Dante shrugged. A few more Arachnes landed on the ground and surrounded them. Dante lend Ebony and Ivory to her while he armed himself with his sword.

The situation wasn't looking optimistic so Dante decided to trust whatever Mia had up her sleeves. It was easier said then done though. The Arachnes were not only fast but they worked cooperatively as a team. They had eight legs but only used the two at the front to attack. After a while of jumping and rolling away, Dante noticed they always screech before they rush forward. Behind him, Mia was using the handguns to keep the spiders from getting too close. At first, she attempted to save bullets but soon discovered that the guns had infinite ammunition.

Taking Mia's words, Dante focused on the particular Arachne that was blocking the door. When he saw another rush attack coming, Dante jumped on its back lightly and landed behind it. The moment he did, he unleashed several combos, not giving it any chance to strike back. Dante stood out of the way before the Archane fell on its back and turned into a pool of acidic liquid. Seeing that their way was cleared, Dante and Mia pushed the door open and hurried out the Cathedral. However, Mia didn't head off right away. "Catch," Mia threw Ebony and Ivory back to Dante, who caught them skillfully. Mia placed her hand on the door and closed her eyes. A bright line of blue light appeared, outlining the edge of the door. Following that, a symbol that was similar to the ones in Rei's summoning circles emerged in the center.

"This should keep them inside," Mia said when she finished with her seal.

By the time they arrived back at Lagoon, it was no longer a lake. The area turned into a muddy swamp. There were no other ways to get across other than on foot. Dante put his feet into the mud and immediately sank down to knee level. The swamp was deeper than they thought. It was hard to walk in it because the black mud was so slimy and sticky. Mia followed behind the demon hunter. Like Dante, she didn't find walking in the mud the most enjoyable thing to do but they needed to get out of there as soon as possible.

"I've always wanted to play in the mud when I was little," Dante said sarcastically as they travel across. At least his wounded leg was fully healed by now. Even though he was half devil, it still took a while to heal up.

"Well, have fun," Mia replied. She pulled a muddy foot up to take another step forward. She had to walk faster otherwise she would sink further below. Suddenly, a bean sprout-like yellow plant broke out of the mud behind them. It began to grow several thick vines from itself at an amazing speed. The vines were covered in millions of sharp thorns. The direction where the vines were going was clear – it was heading for them.

"This just keeps getting better and better," Dante said. He tried to walk across as fast as he could but found it difficult to precede any faster than he was. Mia was doing the same. They both knew that in actual fact, the plant was getting to them quicker than they were getting away from it.

Just when Dante was about to suggest getting rid of the plant first, one of its vines caught Mia's arm and began pulling her back. Mia cried out as the thorns on the plant dug into her skin. The thorns were like tiny knives, small but sharp. Desperately, she tried to break free but the vine wrapped its end firmly around her upper arm. Dante attempted to chop off the vine as soon as he was able to get close. However, Rebellion was no use against the vine's tough surface. Before he could swing his sword at it again, the other vines attacked Dante.

Mia knew she could not let the vine pulled her back any further closer to its main body. Ignoring the thorns, she tried to untangle the vine with her other hand. Before touching it, Mia gritted her teeth so she wouldn't scream when the thorns cut her. She couldn't use a barrier here otherwise it would affect them as well. Although Mia was able to loosen it slightly but it quickly tightened around her arm again. Blood was dripping down her arm and hand.

Meanwhile, Dante was dealing with the other vines. One of the vines hit Dante's back and sent him into the mud. Luckily, that brought him closer to the main body as well. Dante tried to ignore the pain on his back and attacked the bean sprout-looking plant. It turned out that its main body was as least as durable as the vines. He looked over to Mia, who was still struggling to break free.

Think! Dante thought to himself. If the enemy is a plant, what is it weak against? Something flashed past in his mind. Then he remembered having brought a lighter along with him. Dante turned the lighter on and threw it towards the monstrous plant. The plant caught on fire at once. It swung its vines furiously to try putting out the fire. However, the fire kept burning strongly. The bean sprout-like plant's movements slowed down shortly after and released its hold on Mia.

The thorns left little holes on Mia's arm. More blood ran down her pale skin from the holes, staining her white shirt red. Mia grimaced as she press her hand on her arm to stop the blood.

Dante went to see how Mia was but couldn't see it because her hand was in the way. "How is it?" He asked. Both of them were covered in mud and blood.

"Nothing to worry about," Mia lied. "We better go," she added. The pain was unbearable. She needed to keep her mind off it so she wouldn't feel it as much. Not waiting for Dante's reply, she continued to cross over to the other side of the swamp.

Dante found Mia even more stubborn than Rei. The wound on his back caused by the bean sprout plant was intolerably painful, so he doubt Mia was telling the truth. Dante quickened his pace to catch up with her. Dante grabbed Mia's unwounded wrist.

"What are you doing?" Mia turned around to face him. She didn't want Dante to see her face. She hated to show weakness in front of others, and especially not now.

"Jeez, I don't know why you and Rei are so desperate to be nominated as Miss Tough. You can both pretend nothing happened at times like this," Dante took a good look at Mia's bleeding arm. Fortunately, the bleeding seemed to have stopped by now.

"I told you so," Mia said. In fact she only found out at the same time as Dante. He let go of her.

Dante and Mia left the swamp and entered Mirror Walk. It was the same as the way Dante left it. They made their way through the mirror tunnels without getting lost. When the two of them reached the decagonal pathway room, a man stood in the middle of the platform with his back to them. Mia gasped and immediately turned back to the way she came. "This way!" She didn't have time to explain so she just hold Dante's hand to lead him away. "What's going on?" Dante asked. "He's –" Before she could finish, all the paths were sealed shut, trapping them in the pathway room. Mia was going to use her power to break the seal but the man appeared in front of her. He wasn't where he was standing seconds ago.

"Zorlin…" Mia backed away. Dante moved back as well so they are not standing on the narrow path that joined the platform and doorway. It would be a bad time to fall down such great depth.

The man called Zorlin wore a medium length silver coat with black clothes underneath. His hair and eyes were grey in colour. Dante thought Zorlin would either be a very robust-looking, bodybuilder-like man, or a hideous and insane monster. Instead, he looked like an ordinary human to Dante. The incredible coldness in his eyes reminded Dante of his elder twin brother; only Zorlin's eyes were much more daunting. On his back, Zorlin carried a very long blade weapon. Dante couldn't see it very well from where he stood. Mia tried to stand still but she felt weak due to the pressure Zorlin put on her. His eyes radiated some kind of mysterious power that could hold back enemies. It was the first time Dante saw Mia being scared. She didn't even flinch when they fought Archanes and bean sprout monster. Zorlin stepped forward towards Mia but Dante came in between them.

"If you walk away now, I can forget you ever came." Zorlin stopped on the spot.

"Nice offer, but no thanks," Dante said. He stood in a defensive pose with Rebellion in his hand. At the same time, Mia used the opportunity to work on destroying the seals. The moment she put her hands on the ground she felt sharp things prodding into her palm. As unbelievable as it seemed, white-silver coloured crystals were growing from the ground at an amazing rate.

Dante only took his eyes off Zorlin for a short moment to look at this astonishing sight. Zorlin seized the chance to attack him at an inhuman speed. Dante couldn't believe he was stabbed on the chest from the front. He could see his enemy's weapon now. It was a double-sided long blade with a steel section in the middle. Dante felt the blade being removed and then the next moment he was kicked on the ground. Mia wanted to go see how he was but more crystals grew from the ground and began growing on her foot. She tried pulling free but it was like beings stuck in a stone. At the corner of her eyes, she saw Zorlin holding onto a red amulet in his hands.

"Give that back!" Dante said as he picked himself up with a hand pressed on where he was stabbed. He was bleeding badly. Although he didn't know when Zorlin took the amulel,it had a silver chain so it had to be his and not Vergil's. He couldn't get on his feet in time before Zorlin kicked him another time. Dante rolled off the platform but his right hand caught the edge.

"Dante!" Mia called out frantically. Her lower leg was bleeding as well because she was trying so hard to break free that the sharp edges of the crystal cut into her skin. She tried pulling apart the crystal with her bare hands. She tried so hard that the blood on her hands coated the crystal that was trapping her foot. It was no use; the crystals wouldn't budge. Even so, she knew she must do something. The only person who could save him was her.

Standing on the edge, Zorlin looked down on Dante, who was dangling in midair. "I hope you don't regret this. It was your choice, after all." Having said that, Zorlin kicked Dante's hand off the edge.

* * *

Author's note: As with the rating of this fic, sorry I got to change it to T. It's not going to have alot of coarse language or any suggested adult themes, but it doescontain moderate level ofviolence. I'm not too sure how much violence can children under 13 take but I thought it'd be safer to change it to T. 

Please review to tell me what you think of this chapter. It doesn't matter how many I've got already. I treasure every single one of them.

Date written: 1 April 2005


	10. Chapter 10: The Decision

Devil May Cry: Zero

Disclaimer: All original characters from Devil May Cry belong to Capcom. This is a non-profit fan fiction.

Chapter 10: The Decision

* * *

The ghostly hands were gone after they brought Rei to the other side of the void. An unknown source of light lit the entire area. For a moment, only a moment, Rei felt afraid. She was all alone in a place she had never been to. It didn't take long for her to realise she wasn't standing on leveled ground. In fact, she was brought to an extremely steep gravel mountain. It was more like a large hill because there was nothing except gravel on it. Gravity was pulling her downwards. 

Standing was one of the hardest things for Vergil right now. The hill was treacherously high and steep. He could see Rei in front of him, trying to stay on her feet like him. She didn't see him coming through to this side since she was hauled to the other side completely before he followed. Nonetheless, Vergil figured that if he didn't do something soon, he would be rolling down the hill sooner or later. He struck Yamato into the gravel to slow himself down. Normally he wouldn't use it for other purposes other than slaying demons; however he didn't have a choice in such situation.

Rei tried to maintain balance but the stones slide over each other almost as smoothly as marbles. One of her foot stepped on a looser pile, causing her to lose balance but didn't stop her from skidding downhill uncontrollably. Rei saw many long, branch-like things sticking out of the ground so she took hold of one, hoping it would slow her down. When she touched it, it felt dry and hard. To her horror, the branch-like object was a skeleton arm. Her reflex action caused her to let go of it but immediately regretted it the moment she did. She couldn't believe she was still scared of little things like that when she was fighting devils a while ago.

A strong hand grabbed hers, halting her right away. Rei looked up and saw Vergil. He was sort of crouching on his feet but leaning slightly backwards. At the corner of her eyes, Rei could see him holding Yamato, which was dug in the gravel at that time, with his right hand and holding her with his left hand. Rei wondered when Vergil followed her. Nevertheless, knowing he was here gave her great relief. Carefully, they skidded down to the bottom of the grey-coloured hill.

Rei looked up the hill they came down from and shuddered. The hill covered such a large area that she couldn't see anything other than greyness on either end. Hundreds of bony arms, legs and skulls stuck out in similar manner. An ordinary person would think that place was hell upon first sight. In a way, Rei was glad the skeleton body parts weren't moving at least.

"This is strange. Why would they take us – I mean me, really – to a place like this?" Rei said. She expected demons would come out and seizes her any moment but there was nothing at all.

"I don't think that man's action is predictable," Vergil replied. He was considering whether or not he should ask about Rune at a time like this.

"What should we do now?" Rei asked. She had a couple of options in mind, but wanted to listen to her companion's opinion first.

Vergil thought for a moment and spoke. "We should leave this place as soon as we can before they send more demons after us."

"I know, but what about Dante and Mia?" Rei asked.

"They'll be fine," Vergil said. Needless to say, it was too dangerous to go back. "Dante knows what I'll do," He added. Rei nodded in agreement.

The place where they were at resembled a grey desert to Vergil. Everywhere looked the same. It was the perfect place to be lost, if anyone wants to be lost, that is. Rei summoned two small, white-furred creatures that had mixed features of rabbit and squirrel. The summoning circle was green, unlike the last one. The diagram inside it was different too. She ordered them to find a way out for them while they explore the area.

"Thanks," Rei said to the devil hunter next to her.

"What for? You thanked before," Vergil asked.

Rei shook her head and smiled. "No, this is for believing me. You wouldn't have let me go off with Dante together if you didn't trust me, right?"

Vergil didn't say anything. He wasn't good at deciding what to say when people thank him. On the other hand, even though she had only met him for less than a day, Rei knew him well enough to not expect an answer.

They looked around for a while but didn't find a single thing. Greyness was all there was. Rei glanced at her silver-haired companion. He was staring forward, expressionless as usual. She couldn't tell if he was in deep thought or staying alert. The wound on his shoulder seemed to have healed but he got more fresh ones. It came to her that she was supposed to be scared of him. He was, after all, half-demon. But for some reason, she felt secure beside this person. Being partly demon, Vergil and Dante treated her and Mia better than some humans.

All of a sudden, demons emerged from beneath the stones and gravel. Vergil and Rei were surrounded by Enigmas within seconds. More Enigmas appeared outside the first wave. There were at least twenty if not more. All of them were flashing blue, which indicated they were about to release their long needles. Vergil didn't waste a second; he drew Yamato and cleared the ones nearest to him. Rei kneed down and chanted silently. A black square-shape was formed around her. Beside her, Vergil spun his katana so quick that it was able to block half a dozen of blue needles shooting towards him. He could see some were heading for Rei, who couldn't move in the middle of summoning. She had her eyes closed in order to concentrate.

Rei heard noises that sounded awfully like sharp objects piercing through flesh. She had completed the summon so she opened her eyes. She could see three baseball bat sized needles had pierced through Vergil's chest. More demons appeared outside the circle of Enigmas. The new wave consisted of an assorted group of the seven sins. They headed towards them like bees attracted to honey. Strangely, five Hell-Vanguards appeared and started attacking the demons. Vergil realised that they were allies that Rei summoned up. The Hell-Vanguards kept their enemies occupied so none were able to get close to them. He was a little surprised that she could summon demons as well.

Vergil returned Yamato to its sheath and set his hand on one of the needles. He held his breath before pulling the needle out. Next to him, Rei watched as he did so. She knew it must be painful even though Vergil didn't say a word.

"Why did you do it?"

Vergil thought Rei would ask him if he was ok. He didn't expect her to say that.

"You don't need to protect me. I only asked you to save my sister." Rei didn't want anyone to be hurt because of her. To her, she wasn't worth being protected. It was horrible enough to feel guilty to be alive.

Near them, the sound of demons slaying each other was quite loud. Somehow they were able to hear each other clearly.

Vergil looked into Rei's eyes. They were pretty but filled with sadness. "Do you want to die?" He asked.

Rei didn't reply. She sat down on the ground to rest for a bit. It was rare for her to have to use her power for so many times in a day. The moment she sat down she felt extremely tired. In fact, she was exhausted a long time ago but all the things that happened kept her mind off it. Vergil rid of the remaining needles. Blood was coming out of the wounds but his demonic blood was already beginning to heal them gradually.

"Thanks for saving me…for the tenth time or so?" Rei sighed.

"If you want to thank me, why don't you tell me about that man called Rune?" Vergil sat down beside her. He looked back at the fight between demons of the same kind. Almost all the sins and Enigmas were gone by now. As soon as the last demon was gotten rid of, the Hell-Vanguards vanished.

"That's right, I haven't told you yet," Rei said. "I'll sorry I didn't have the chance to explain this properly to you and Dante. I'll answer any questions you have. Where should I start?"

"First, tell me about your High Priestess bloodline," Vergil suggested.

"Alright," Rei nodded. For some reason, Vergil had a feeling it was not going to be a happy cheery story.

"The powers that Mia and I have were inherited from our mother. It is our mother's side that had the High Priestess blood. There can only be one High Priestess in this world at a time. Very few people in the world know our existence for a good reason: it is a very important secret. The High Priestess can either be a barrier manipulator or summoner, but she can never be both. If she does, she'll be able to open the Gate to the Underworld and bring chaos to humanity." As she recalled, she looked at the finely crafted locket in her hands, which was used to suppress her powers.

Rei took her eyes off the locket and stared ahead, as though she was seeing images of her past. "When my mother's family knew mum gave birth to two twin girls, they were scared. If Mia and I both have power, the world can end in our hands. The demons were constantly looking for the Priestess. But while mum still lived, they couldn't tell whether or not we are both Priestesses. They even thought about killing one of us just to be safe. In order to avoid them, my parents moved away so we won't be found."

Vergil didn't understand humans sometimes. Some humans, like his mother, can fall in love with a demon, whilst others would think about killing their own family.

"Even until now, we move at least once a year to stay away from our relatives. There can only be one Priestess in the world at a time, as I said. Therefore, the new Priestess will not inherit the power until the previous one dies. Soon after mum's death, we found out we were indeed both Priestesses. The only person on my mum's side who didn't hate us was our uncle, mum's elder brother, our uncle. He is also the father of Rune. Therefore Rune is our cousin."

Vergil finally understood the reason why Rune knew so much about the Rei and Mia. If he was related to them, it made sense that he would know where they lived. Perhaps Rune told the demons about his cousins. "If he is human, how come he has all these powers? Do all the people in your maternal side of the family have powers?"

"No, they are supposed to be normal humans. Only the Priestess has powers. I don't know why," Rei shrugged. "Rune…he went missing five years ago. All of us thought he was dead."

Without warning, Rune appeared in front of them. "Did I hear my name?" Vergil and Mia were startled. They had their eyes glued on him as though Rune was a bomb that will go off any second. Vergil had his hand on Yamato's hilt, ready to block any sudden strikes.

"I'm not here to fight you." Rune laughed, amused by their expression.

"What are you here for then?" Vergil demanded. His grip on the katana relaxed slightly.

Rune dug into his pocket and fished out a shining red amulet. No doubt it was half of the amulet given to Vergil and Dante from their mother. Now it was Vergil's turn to worry. Since he had his, the half that Rune was holding must be Dante's. He knew his brother would never give his half to anyone. "Recognise this?" Rune asked, a light smile hang on his face. Rei didn't know what was going on. She could see Vergil's eyes widened. Something was very, very wrong.

"If Rei doesn't go to the Gate before midday, I don't know what would happen to your brother."

"Why are you telling me this? I know you can take her away right now if you want. Why are you waiting for me to hand her over?" Vergil asked. Rune's actions didn't make sense if he was a subordinate of Zorlin.

"Don't get me wrong, I'm not on anyone's side. Besides, it'd be boring if I do that, wouldn't it?" Rune said simply.

"Dante's in danger? How can this be?" Rei asked. Both Vergil and Dante were so strong. How could they possibly be defeated? But then again, even if they are half demons, they would be tired from all the battles. She looked at Vergil and saw him staring at the ground blankly. What was he thinking? Rei wondered. He must hate her now, for bringing so much trouble and misery. It was her fault that Dante was in danger. If what Rune said was true, the odds that Mia was safe were not looking good either.

"I'll go save him," Rei told Vergil.

Shifting his gaze to her, Vergil replied. "No, it's almost midday." There was less than half an hour left. He couldn't allow Zorlin to open up the seal on Gate.

"Dante won't get into this if it wasn't because of me and Mia. I have to go," Rei said. She could see Vergil was unconvinced. "I won't open the Gate for them no matter what happens."

Vergil didn't like the idea for two reasons. There was always the risk that Rei and Mia will be forced to unsealing the Gate, willingly or not. Also, there was no guarantee that Dante was safe right now. Even if Rei went, Dante might not be there anyway. What they had in front of them smelt very much like a trap. Something else was bothering Vergil as well, how did Rune knew there were two halves to the amulet?

Rune guessed what Vergil was thinking. "There is a very simple solution if you don't want the Gate to be opened," He said. "Just kill Rei."

Undeniably, the only way that can ensure humanity would not be threatened was getting rid of one of the girls. Silence penetrated for a long while. Vergil, Rei and Rune all had different things in mind.

"Well then," Rune waved his hand in the air and created a portal instantly. "Step in here and you'll be bought to the Gate. See you later." Then he was gone.

"He's right," Rei finally spoke. Vergil was going to say something but she kneed down for another summon. A purple circle shape surrounded Rei and glowed brightly. A figure emerged from the ground and took shape of her. She looked exactly like Rei. Even her clothes and wounds were the same.

"This is my shadow," Rei explained, wiping some sweat on her forehead. She was reaching her summoning limit. "She can listen to you but she can't speak. You can give her simple instructions and she'll do as you say. Take her to exchange Dante. She won't disappear even if I die."

It surprised Vergil that she was so decisive. Indeed, in order to save humanity, a girl's life should be a cheap price to pay. He had never killed a human before, but it was not really the problem. Why was he hesitating? He had known her for less than a day and yet… Vergil shook his thoughts away. There was no time to waste. Killing Rei would be the safest. It would be over in seconds. Slowly, he drew out Yamato out of its sheath and walked towards Rei.

* * *

Author's note: Sorry this chapter took me so long to write. A couple of weeks ago I went on a university exchange program to study in Japan for a year. I was very busy settling down but is pretty much done with it now. A few days ago I even caught a cold. The next chapter probably won't come out soon but I'll keep on writing! By the way, I love getting your reviews my dear readers. 

Date Written: 17 April 2005


	11. Chapter 11: The Gate

Devil May Cry: Zero

Disclaimer: All original characters from Devil May Cry belong to Capcom. This is a non-profit fan fiction.

Chapter 11: The Gate

* * *

Deep inside Domain, beneath the Eighth Floor, was the Gate - entrance to the demonic realm. The blood seal cast by Sparda took shape of bright, electricity-like power. Thousands of golden lines covered the entrance like barbed wires surrounding a gaol. Without the seal, the entrance would have looked like a giant black hole. No light came from the other side, only darkness penetrated. 

The only living beings at the Gate were Zorlin and Mia. There was also a low class demon, which was ordered by Zorlin to watch over the Priestess. Whenever the demon guarding her wasn't looking at her direction, she tried to struggle out of the ropes that tide her hands firmly. Mia had spent a while doing that but still hadn't figure out a way to untied the knot. Her eyes scanned the area around her, hoping to find a way to escape. Nobody would have thought the area around entrance to the Underworld was like this: the whole place was overgrown with silver-white crystals. These beautiful mineral stones were scattered everywhere – on the ground, the sides and even the space on top. They were still underground so there was a ceiling-like cover above their heads. All the crystals were different in shapes and sizes; each glittered and sparkled in its own way. Mia wasn't really in the mood to enjoy this stunning view. She guessed the crystal's formation was caused by Zorlin, who appeared to be able to manipulate it. Unknown to her, however, was the fact that the crystals actually magnified his power as well.

Since she couldn't see her watch, Mia didn't know what time it was. It felt like it was almost midday to her. There was no way she could just sit and wait to be rescued. It wasn't like last time, where escape wasn't possible with the Chest Pieces blocking her way. Mia shook her head and sighed. Perhaps she was wasting her time. How could she possibly run away with one of the most powerful devil only meters away? Even though Mia hadn't really fought him herself, the way Zorlin defeated Dante in seconds told a lot about his strength.

Footsteps could be heard from a distance. Mia lifted her head to see who it was – it was Rune and Niji. Zorlin didn't turn around to face either of them even when they approached him.

"There you go," Rune took out Dante's amulet and returned it back Zorlin. The demon leader received it without saying anything.

After Rune left, which was only moments later, Niji bowed to Zorlin. "I'm sorry that I lost," She hung her head, disgraced to look at Zorlin in the eyes.

"Forget it," Zorlin said, his grey-coloured eyes staring at the Gate. "Even if they are only hybrids, they are the sons of Sparda. Don't ever underestimate them."

"I understand," Niji replied. There was something she wanted to say but wondered if she should or not. She decided to ask anyway. "Can we really trust that man called Rune?"

Turning his face to her, Zorlin waited for her to speak on. Niji continued, "All we know about him is that he's human and blood related to the Priestesses. We know almost nothing about him other than that. How did he get his powers? What does he want?"

"We can't trust him, but we can use him," Zorlin answered. Niji wasn't so sure who was using who.

"It looks like he just wants to watch this event to entertain himself. He is not on either side," said Zorlin. Niji nodded. Anyhow, they must be careful of Rune. She glanced at where Mia was. The young Priestess was looking at Zorlin and her with a cold expression. Her green eyes showed no strands of fear. It wasn't that Niji expected her to be beamingly happy. Before she met them, the way she imagined how the Priestesses would be was totally different then they really were. Niji guessed they must have been through a lot in their lives.

Minutes later, footsteps could be heard again. Niji looked over to the way she came and saw Vergil and Rei coming. She remembered an order given from Zorlin that directed her as to what to do when the two came. For that, Niji left quietly. Mia was glad to see her sister and the half demon were ok. But seeing Vergil reminded Mia that she couldn't make it to Dante in time.

As he was approaching Zorlin, Vergil carried his sword, Yamato, in his left hand while keeping his eyes on the grey hair man. He took a note of where Mia was and only looked at her for a second. Rei followed right behind him. He and Rei stopped at a distance that Vergil considered as safe from Zorlin. Mia noticed Vergil was wearing an amulet that was almost identical to the one Dante had. The red stone at the centre of the amulet was radiating brilliantly.

When Mia first saw Rei, she could feel immediately tell something wasn't right. Her twin sister wasn't looking at her at all. There was something missing in her. Only a few people in this world would be able to feel that. Suddenly Mia feared the worst. Could something have happened to Rei? Could Vergil have killed her sister, just to save the world? Calm down Mia! She thought to herself, trying to ease her surging panic. Rei is probably ok, Mia told herself. She had seen her sister summon all kinds of different beings and it was probably one of them. She would only hope she was right.

"Where's Dante?" Vergil was the first to spoke. Mia wanted to tell him about Dante but the demon guarding her clamped its rough hands over her mouth.

"Hand over the Priestess and you'll be told," Zorlin requested.

Vergil looked at Rei in the eyes. She stared back at his silver blue ones, as though asking for confirmation. He nodded in response and signalled her to go. Without as much reluctance as everyone else thought she would have, Rei stepped forward to Zorlin's side.

"Do you really think you can fool me with a mere shadow?" The demon leader asked Vergil before Rei reached the demon leader.

Vergil frowned slightly. Before he could answer, Niji reappeared next to Zorlin along with a person who looked exactly like Rei.

"I've found her," Niji said to Zorlin. It impressed her how well Zorlin had thought ahead. Her boss knew Vergil wouldn't hand over Rei that easily so he told her to check the around after Vergil and Rei's appearance. As Zorlin thought, Niji found the real Rei not far from where they gathered.

The way Niji had twisted her hands hurt Rei an awful lot. However, it couldn't compare with the shamefulness she was feeling that moment. Rei couldn't believe she could've let Vergil down like that. It was the only thing he ever asked of her and yet she failed terribly.

_Flashback to half an hour earlier_

Rei closed her eyes and waited for her death. Vergil drew Yamato and walked towards the Priestess. When he removed it from the sheathe, it sounded like it whispered to him. His blade was hungry for blood, regardless demon or human. She deserved a quick death and shouldn't need to suffer. He raised his sword and went for the position of her heart. For some reason, he stopped before the tip of the blade touched her. Nothing distracted him, it was his own action. Vergil couldn't believe himself. He gritted his teeth and went for her neck instead. Again, his arm stopped in mid air. The blade was a millimetre away from Rei's skin. It cut a few strands of her fine and glossy black hair.

For the first time in his life, Vergil felt frustrated at himself. He wondered what was wrong with himself today. Normally he would've decided what to do before he had to make the decision. Why was he so hesitant today? He always wanted to be like his father - strong, decisive and confident. Unfortunately Vergil didn't think that was how he was handling the current situation right now. Did he really have to follow his father's footsteps? Was his father righteous by rebelling against his own kind? Does the human world really deserve to be saved? Vergil's grip on Yamato's hilt tightened. He felt angry at himself for being so powerless. In actual fact, he really didn't have the confidence to win a fight against someone who defeated Dante. He and Dante could put on an even match, but if that person beat Dante, could he defeat that person?

She waited for the katana to plunge into her heart, but it never came. For once, Rei thought the blade came close to her throat. When she thought it did, the air around her felt chilly. In addition, Rei could almost hear the daunting whisper of the sword. She wasn't sure if that was actually real or just her imagination. After a while, Rei opened her eyes. At the same moment, Vergil put his sword away.

"I probably should do it myself," Rei looked at the half-demon. Perhaps she shouldn't have asked him to kill her, but…

"You can't die yet," Vergil said. "Zorlin wants me to exchange you for Dante but he probably won't play fairly. If we show up, it's very likely we'll only see either Mia or Dante. I'm pretty sure we will see Mia." He had a feeling things weren't as simple as they seem. There was a high possibility that Zorlin had other plans as well. The act of killing someone was no reversible. If they act without thinking carefully, they might be doing exactly what he wanted. "I'll go to the Gate with your shadow. While we distract Zorlin, I want you to find Dante."

"I see your point. I'll go find him," Rei replied.

"If things come to the worst," Vergil said before they parted. "I'll still kill you."

Rei smiled at him sadly. "I know," She looked away. "It's ok if it's you."

Vergil wanted to ask her what she meant, but she was already leaving. It wasn't the time to do such thing anyway, he thought.

_Flashback ends_

"I'm so sorry," Rei winced. She was caught before she could find out anything related to what happened to Dante.

"Where's Dante?" Vergil asked again. Anyhow, no matter what the response would be, it wouldn't really make a difference as to what he decided to do next.

"He has probably reunited with your mother by now," Zorlin replied.

Without a word, Vergil hurled himself towards where Zorlin, Niji, Rei and the shadow were. Rei knew he must be coming to take her life. She must die no matter what. She had accepted the fact a long time ago. For many times she wondered why she was born. There was only one thing in her mind that moment. Why did she say that? What did she say it's ok if it was him? He was getting closer and closer very quickly. She was looking into his eyes for the entire time. Those topaz blue irises used to be so cold and difficult to stare at for a long time. They were like ice – you couldn't hold onto it for long. At that moment, they were different. May be she got used to them, or may be they changed? He was staring at her too. When Vergil was a body length away from her, she waited for the end but didn't close her eyes this time.

Yet, that was a misleading action attempted to confuse Zorlin. Vergil changed his target a split second before his sword touched Rei. Unfortunately, the surprise attack didn't really work. As though he was ready for it, Zorlin drew out Aura, his double-sided blade sword quickly and blocked beautifully. The blades of Yamato and Aura collided.

Meanwhile, Mia could see her chance whilst the demon guarding her was distracted by all the action and noise. She ducked down a little and body slammed herself at the demon, knocking it down on the ground. As fast as she could, Mia put her hands on the ground to work on a barrier. With her hands tied, it was difficult to place her palms flat but she managed. Her hands were still aching from cuts from the crystals earlier. Seconds later, a red circled appeared around the demon and everything within the circle caught on fire. Now that the demon was no longer a threat to her, Mia began to construct another barrier. It was an anti-demon spell aimed around Niji and Rei. Since it was anti-demon, only Niji would be affected.

Although Niji was focused on the battle between Zorlin and Vergil, she was not completely unaware of what was happening around her. When she heard the dying screams of the low rank demon, a triangle shaped barrier was already beginning to form on the ground where she and Rei stood. Cursing under her breath, Niji shoved away Rei and got herself out of the anti-demon barrier. Mia stopped building the barrier half-way because Niji was no longer where she was. Sharp objects were thrown at her from Niji's direction; Mia stepped out of their way just in time. Those were cone-shaped throwers made out of water.

None of them noticed but Rune was watching them from above. He stood in the air with his arms crossed and watched them as though they were animals in a zoo.

The colliding force between Yamato and Aura was so great that Vergil almost lost his grip on his sword. He couldn't believe he was having a hard time just holding his weapon. Each time Vergil blocked his enemy's sword, it was like hitting a wall. The impact caused Yamato to vibrate violently. The vibration was hurting Vergil's hand.

Oddly, Zorlin didn't seem to care about Rei at all. He didn't say anything either when Niji attacked Mia. Vergil thought it was strange because the Priestesses were supposed to be important to Zorlin. Rather than focusing his attention on Rei and Mia, Zorlin appeared to be after the amulet that Vergil was wearing around his neck. The half demon noticed that too and maintained distance as much as he could. Zorlin's speed became faster and faster until Vergil couldn't see his enemy. His right hand suffered the vibrating shock to the point it was bleeding. Vergil held Yamato with his left hand instead. His enemy's movements had become a blur encircling him. Vergil grasped his amulet with his right hand and Yamato in the other, while looking at where Zorlin would come to him next. His twin brother Dante had always said it made them luckier if they wear the amulet. Not that Vergil was starting to believe in such myth, but he did believe the amulet was a protection from their mother.

Vergil was hit twice before he had a chance to react. By the time he was able to block the third strike, he noticed his amulet was taken. Vergil felt a throbbing pain in his head. On top of that, his arms and legs felt wobbly as well. There was poison on Zorlin's blades.

Looking at the two amulets, Zorlin was satisfied. He finally got what he needed. There was only one thing left to do. Behind him, Rei approached Zorlin as quietly as a cat. She couldn't use her summoning power to assist Mia or Vergil, for that she had used up almost her limit for that day, but she watched their battles closely. It didn't take long for Rei to figure out what Zorlin wanted. She knew she must get the amulets back. Whatever reason Zorlin wanted them for, it couldn't be good. Rei had no idea what to do if she was able to get the amulets back. Could she possibly run away and never let them to fall into Zorlin's hands again? She didn't know. Regardless, she must not let him have them – that was what she was sure of.

Rei took a breath silently, stepped forward and went for the amulets which Zorlin was holding. She took only a small breath; she didn't dare to take a deep one in case Zorlin noticed her. Zorlin didn't know Rei came to him from behind but the moment he realised her presence, his clasp on the amulets strengthened. The demon leader definitely noticed her presence but Rei didn't care. She used all her strength to try to remove the amulet from Zorlin's iron grip. The Priestess's seemingly useless struggle was starting to annoy him. With his incredible strength, Zorlin swung his arm and sent Rei flying to the side. Rei's head was hit hard when she was smashed on the crystal-filled wall. She fell on the ground and stopped moving.

Vergil saw it all in his eyes. Rei was not facing him. There was this burning urge in him to rush to her side to see how she was, but his legs wouldn't move. His demon blood was still fighting against the poison. In the corner of his eyes, he saw Zorlin coming up to him. Aura's blade reflected the crystal's brightness. It was already too late for Vergil to take any defensive action.

* * *

Authors note: This story is getting so awfully long I hope readers don't mind Oh yeah I've changed the name of this fanfic a few days ago. I couldn't really stand it being "the bad fic with a lame title". Now it's "the bad fic with a decent title". I still haven't changed the contents in the old chapters. I'm going to fix them up when I'm finished with this story, please bear with me. Please do review. The reviews are what drive me writing. 

Date written: 27 April 2005


	12. Chapter 12: The Kekkai

Devil May Cry: Zero

Chapter 12: The Kekkai

* * *

As quick as a rabbit, Mia dodged another dozen of ice throwers. She watched in amazement as a medium-length sword made out of solidified liquid formed in Niji's hand. The time she was given to watch was not long because her enemy immediately released a set of combo with her new weapon as soon as it complete formation. Mia watched the combination attack carefully for the second time while evading it with swift actions. On the third time, she timed the strikes accurately and placed her tied hands forward. As she hoped, the last strike cut off the ropes thus freed her hands. 

"Thanks!" Mia rubbed her wrists in triumph. The next moment, she saw her twin being hit against the wall involuntarily and landed on the ground. From the distance, Mia could see a small pool of blood forming beneath Rei's head. At first she was very scared but it was quickly replaced by anger. "How dare you hurt Sis!" Mia stared at Zorlin with only hatred in her eyes. She placed her hands on the ground without thinking. Approaching sound from behind reminded Mia of Niji's presence. She rolled away before the blue-haired demon could slice her back. Never did Mia expect Niji to be so quick. The ice sword plunged into the spot in between Mia's arm and chest. It missed her heart by an inch. She screamed in pain but her spirit was not weakened. In response, Mia constructed a thunder barrier as fast as she possibly could to obstruct Niji before she could attack again.

Vergil was about to take a direct hit from Zorlin. There was no time to move away. If only his physical movements were as fast as his senses. Suddenly, the shadow, still in Rei's form, suffered the hit for him. The moment Aura touched the shadow, it turned back into its black original form and shattered into pieces. The pieces dispersed and disappeared into thin air. Vergil was a little stunned by what just happened but only for a second. He focused on Zorlin once again. He was feeling better. His demonic blood was winning against the venom, not quite as fast as he hoped though. Over his shoulder he saw Mia being injured by Niji. The situation was as bad as it could get: with Rei unconscious, possibly dead, Mia wounded and Dante missing.

Mia pressed on her wound with her opposite hand. She was loosing blood fast. Her current state was probably not much better than her sister. That instant Mia knew she couldn't save her sister, just like she couldn't save Dante. Vergil was getting back to the rhythm but was still loosing against Zorlin. At this rate, she would not be able to save Rei but it was within her power to help Vergil. He was the only hope she had. If she could hinder Zorlin, perhaps Vergil would save her sister – that was what Mia hoped. She didn't know for sure whether he would or not. She could only gamble on the slim chances base on the fact Vergil didn't kill Rei when he could. Her hands touched the rough ground and she searched in her memory on how the ancient barrier was supposed to be built. Mia had to bite her tongue to prevent herself from fainting. The first part of the construction came into her mind. She immediately made a start on it.

At that stage, not only was he wielding his s-shaped double-sided blade, Zorlin had also added crystal elements on it. Each time he swang Aura, small pieces of crystals flied straight towards Vergil like darts. Besides the first time, Vergil was able to evade them hastily. Still he was unable to release any combination attacks on Zorlin. All he had time for was avoiding being hit.

"Want to know why Zorlin wants you and your brother's amulets and not the Priestesses now?" A voice came from behind Vergil. The sudden occurrence distracted him slightly, causing a piece of crystal fragment to leave a long cut on his cheek. Without looking, the half-demon knew it was Rune.

Vergil didn't answer him but Rune was sure he was listening to him. "There is more than one way to open the pathway to the Underworld. You see, Sparda used the amulet he gave your mother to create the seal. In reverse, the amulet can break the seal as well." He vanished once again and continued to watch the event that could change the two worlds. Did his mother know about this? Vergil thought to himself. Did she choose to not tell them or was she going to tell them? There were so many questions but no answers.

After being electrocuted a few times within the thunder barrier, Niji made it out alive. However, she was furious. With the ice sword in her hand, she stormed towards Mia. Her pace quickened and soon she was running. Mia could hear Niji coming up from behind, but if she paused now all her effort would be wasted. Rei didn't have time nor did Vergil. She must finish the barrier or everything would be too late.

Just before the semi-transparent ice sword pierced through Mia's chest from her back, something unexpected happened. Two bullets hit the body of Niji's sword so hard that they sent it flying out of her hand. Another couple of bullets followed and hurt her hands. Before she could see who it was, a shower of bullets chased her away from where Mia was. Quite remarkably, none of the bullets hit the Priestess. Mia lifted her head to see who saved her.

Standing near the entrance of the area, which wasn't too far away, was the younger one of the two half-demon devil hunters. Breeze from the direction he came blew his red coat gently like a flag. He was carrying two identical guns of different colours and a sword on his back. Smoke was still coming out of the hose of his guns.

"Can't believe you guys started without me," Dante grinned. "Anyone mind filling me in as to what happened?"

"Dante!" Mia exclaimed. She finished the special barrier at the same time. A silver rectangular shape appeared on the ground under Zorlin's feet. The outline of the shape glowed brightly. Faster than anyone could see, four silver coloured transparent walls rose from the shape and trapped Zorlin inside. Zorlin withdrew his hand after touching the wall's surface. The moment he felt it, it was like touching high voltage electricity current, only a thousand or so times stronger. It was not possible for him to break out by force. Zorlin dug into a pocket hidden in his silver coat and took out a small glass bottle. The size of it was smaller than a pepper shaker. Dante couldn't see it very well but the bottle seemed to contain something inside.

Zorlin throw it on the ground, the same manner as someone would throw a dice on their turn of a board game. The glass bottle shattered into pieces but what's inside didn't. Two black slugs, each about two centimetres long a first grew bigger and bigger until it was the size of a large dog. They dived into the earth within the barrier and came back out on the other side. Without warning, they rushed towards Vergil. Being prepared, Vergil sliced the first one that came from directly in front. He knew the other one went behind him but the first one was stuck on his sword. The huge slug was heavy and he could hardly lift up Yamato. Dante swung Rebellion and knock back the second giant slug. At the same moment, Vergil got rid of the one on his katana. The twin brothers stood back to back to each other in their fighting stance.

"You're late," Vergil said with his back against his younger twin.

"Better late than never," Dante shrugged. They didn't see it but they knew they both smiled for a second that moment.

The slugs appeared to be attracted to blood therefore went for Vergil most of the time. Those slimy creatures were fast and their bodies were acidic. Even fine swords such as Rebellion and Yamato could not withstand the acid for long. Dante saw Niji after Mia with her ice weapons once again. Mia looked very pale and her movements were slowing down gradually.

"Go help them. I'll take care of these," Vergil said, referring to the monstrous slugs. Dante had the same thing in mind. "You can't lose to anyone," He looked at the slugs and continued. "Or anything but me, got it?"

"Who do you think I am?" Vergil answered him. He concentrated on his fight after Dante left his side.

Mia kept away from Niji as far as she could. Niji was so furious that her throwers were thrown at a much higher frequency than previously. Mia tripped over a small crystal sticking out from the ground and landed solidly. The cut between her left chest and shoulder felt like it was splitting apart wider. She wanted to get up but couldn't gather up enough strength to do so.

Intending to end the Priestess' life once and for all, Niji ran towards Mia. Rebellion flied towards her like a boomerang and knocked her unconscious before she knew what happened. Dante put his sword back on his back. He stepped forward to see how Mia was. She was trying to get up on her feet with one hand whilst the other was pressed on her bleeding wound.

"Take it easy, babe. The main dish isn't going anywhere," Dante picked her up. She was lighter than he thought. Mia felt a pair of strong arms went under her knee joints and shoulder and scooped her up effortlessly.

"Who are you calling babe…How's Sis…Rei?" Mia asked. Dante put her down where she could support herself against the wall before going to check on Rei. Red blood stained his hands after he carried Mia. Rei was in bad shape. Dante guessed she must've hit her head pretty severely. Blood was in her hair and streaked over her face. Her green eyes were shut tight. He couldn't wait to see if her chest was raising or not, so he checked her pulse.

"How's Rei?" Mia asked Dante when he came back to her. The demon hunter had to suppress his urge to crack a joke or else he might get the fist-in-the-face treatment. "She's fine, just knocked out cold." There were things he didn't say as well. By the looks of Rei, he couldn't tell when she'll wake up. The internal bleeding from her head had stopped but her condition was terrible enough to be treated first in the emergency room. Dante didn't want to move her in case it might hurt her more.

When Mia was about to ask Dante to take her over to look at Rei, she saw something come their way. "Behind you!" She warned him desperately. Dante didn't even look behind. He tilted his head to avoid a block of sharp ice that soon crushed into pieces after hitting the wall. Dante stood up to face Niji, drawing out Ebony and Ivory as he did so.

"Had a nice dream?" He grinned at her.

"You're so going to regret this," Niji snapped. She dropped thousands of small cone-shaped ice on Dante from above.

"What's the hurry? I'm not going anywhere soon," Dante dodged them all. He open fired in return as though he was accepting an invitation. "But hey, since I'm going to be working overtime, don't blame me if my client comes to you when she has to pay me more because of you, ok?"

Since Niji was not near water, her variety of attacks was limited to her ice throwers and sword. Fighting Mia was more tiring than she thought. Even a demon has her limits; she knew the next strike will decide who wins. Dante seemed to know that as well.

At the same time, they ran towards each other. With one hand, Niji threw a dozen or so of ice cones at Dante, who countered them with his bullets. Niji charged at Dante with her sword while manipulating more throwers that aimed at his back. The second they meet each other, Dante dived below and avoided both. The ice cones hit Niji herself instead of their intended target. In his quickest speed, he turned around and shot her legs.

Rei opened her eyes. She could hear a lot of noises around her, and voices of people she knew. Her visions were a little hazy at first but her pupils gradually adjusted themselves. Further away from the Gate were Dante, who was battling Niji the water demon. Mia leant against the wall and appeared to be unconscious due to her blood loss. Closer to the Gate was Vergil, who was fighting against two hideous looking slug demons. Closest to the Gate was Zorlin, who was trapped in a barrier. Rei blinked to make sure she wasn't seeing things. What constrained the demon leader was an ancient barrier called the Kekkai. It was the most powerful constriction barrier. If Mia chose to use the Kekkai, Rei could guess how bad their circumstances were. However, its light was fading probably because Mia didn't have sufficient strength left to maintain it.

Flipping backwards, Vergil made some distance between himself and the two giant slugs. He had already suffered a few burns from their acid. It was tough when the two attacked tactically. He returned Yamato to sheath but left his hand on the hilt. Three dark spheres appeared next to the slugs and made a flameless explosion. Vergil's didn't use his dimension-cutting technique until now because he had to use it at the expense of his power. Using it often consumed too much energy therefore he only used it when really needed.

Dimension-cutting was effective against the slugs at first but they quickly learned its nature. The slugs moved quickly enough so the spheres couldn't touch them thus didn't trigger any explosions. One of them leaped at Vergil, who blocked it with Yamato even faster. Dante threw Rebellion at the other and knocked it back on the ground before it touched his brother.

"Don't tell me these suckers are giving you a hard time," Dante went to Vergil's side. They stood back to back once again.

"Not at all. Just waiting for you to join in." Vergil glanced over to the two Priestesses. Mia had fainted but Rei was awake. She was sitting still. Her head hang down slightly and her hands were clasped in a praying gesture.

It didn't take a genius to figure out that they were loosing. Rei could see it clearly. Although it seemed like the demon hunters were handling the slugs well, they were showing signs of fatigue whereas the slugs were not. On top of that, the Kekkai was fading and the outcome of this battle was obvious once Zorlin could interfere. Rei knew what she must do. She shut her eyes and began a summon. Even though her power recovered slightly while she was unconscious, it was still insufficient to summon up what she wanted. The only way to get more power was to extract from the energy that kept her body running.

This particular summon took a lot of effort but it was not complex. About half way through it, Rei felt something was stuck in her air pipe. She coughed it out and it was a clot of blood. Breathing was getting difficult because her lungs were not inhaling air fast enough. Her body was weakening but she couldn't stop. She had to summon it; she wouldn't allow either of the brothers die.

The silver walls of Kekkai fell and out stepped Zorlin. He walked straight towards the Gate. Instead of holding them separately with both hands, he brought together the two halves of the amulet that belonged to Sparda's sons. The glowing halves joined together in mid air to form one complete amulet. Following that, it floated upwards and halted at a certain height. As though it could sense itself was near the net-like seal, the amulet began to undo it. The strands of the seal on the edge started to dissolve and the process was slowly working towards the centre.

Rei coughed up some more blood. The metal taste of her own blood filled her mouth. She collapsed on the ground with a thud. The summon was complete. Did the beast respond to her call? She wondered. She wanted to look but her heart felt like someone hammered on it that instant. It beat in such inconsistent rate that it was unbearable.

Vergil and Dante turned around and saw Rei fell. What the hell is she doing? Dante thought, angry and worried at the same time. A blur of movement moved towards her. The next moment, they saw Zorlin had Rei pinned on the ground. Pressing her down with one hand, he swang Aura towards her throat.

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Authors note: This chapter took a while because all the characters are doing a lot of things in a short time. Sorting out the events was the most time-consuming. I hope I didn't leave out anything. Dante's back too, woo-hoo! And yes, I love cliffhangers. Anyway, please review and tell me what you think of it! 

Date written: 9-5-05


	13. Chapter 13: The Summon

Devil May Cry: Zero

Chapter 13: The Summon

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Rei waited for Zorlin to slit her throat any moment. She didn't want to die, but there wasn't any strength in her body left to fight back. She wasn't afraid of death. In a way, it was a kind of relief, an end to all her problems. If she never existed, her father and Mia could have lived a normal life. They could have got along with their relatives. Mia could have stayed at a place long enough to make friends, to fall in love, and enjoy simple happiness like these. 

Dante and Vergil knew they couldn't possibly make it in time. Nevertheless, they hurried towards where Zorlin and Rei were as fast as they could. To their surprise, the demon leader jumped away rather frantically all of a sudden. When they looked closely, they saw that he was being chased by a bunch of snake-like silver slimes that had appeared out of nowhere. Those little creatures exploded into ice shards when they caught their prey.

Vergil reached Rei quicker than Dante. He picked her up in his arms and carried her to where Mia was. Meanwhile, Dante fired his guns at Zorlin to make sure he stayed busy. His blue eyes widened when he saw where the silver creatures came from.

Vergil looked at the girl he was carrying. He couldn't tell if she was unconscious or asleep. Her pulse was unstable. One moment it could be beating extremely fast and the next moment there was close to no beating at all.

Mia was woken up by the sound that the devil hunters made when they arrived where she was. She scolded herself silently for fainting at such critical time.

"Rei!" Mia's gasped when Vergil he put down her twin next to her. Rei looked very pale and there was blood was all over her. It hurt Mia to see her twin's face twisted in pain as she suffered the after-effects of overusing her power.

"Look after her, we'll take care of the other side," Vergil said to her. Mia didn't seem to have heard. Regardless, the twin brothers hurried back to the battleground.

"Hey Vergil, there's something I don't get," Dante glanced over to his twin. "Why does he have to kill Rei and Mia if he is after our amulet?"

"Zorlin main objective was to open the Gate and had always been from the beginning. Perhaps he plans to help the prince of darkness to regain the control of both worlds once again as well. Who knows? But what I know is he wanted the Priestesses at first. But, when he knew our amulet could be used instead, he changed his plans," Vergil explained. "If he wants to kill Rei and Mia, there can only be one reason."

"Don't tell me…" Dante came to a sudden realisation. The answer was so simple that he felt a bit stupid to have asked.

"Yes, the Priestesses should have the power to seal the Gate."

Mia cradled Rei gently as though she was a broken doll. "Please Rei, don't do this to me," Mia could feel tears welling up her eyes. "You said we need to change destiny, remember? You can't just leave now." She wished everything that was happening was only a bad dream. In fact, she wished more than anything that Rei could have lived their lives for both of them. Their life would have been so much better if only one of them was born.

By the time Mia noticed Rune, he was already right beside her and Rei. Instinctively, she moved her twin away from her cousin as fast as she could while doing it as carefully as possibly. "What do you…?" Before she could finish, he was gone. Unknown to her, he reappeared on the other side in a ghastly manner. It almost made her jump when she saw his hand resting on Rei's forehead. "Don't touch Rei!" Mia snapped. "Or I will…"

"Or you will what?" Rune shrugged with an amused expression on his face. "You can't possibly defeat me in such condition."

Mia bit her lip. He was right, but she wouldn't let him do whatever he wanted either. "What else do you want? Just sit back and enjoy this show that you spent so much effort setting up."

Dante was about to turn back to where the girls were as soon as he saw Rune's appearance, but Vergil stopped him. "He won't hurt them," Vergil told his younger twin.

"Can't I see my cousin?" Rune smiled at her. Mia was still eying him in a warily. Her cousin would have been considered very good-looking to ordinary human women, no less than Dante and Vergil. Mia, however, was beginning to find his smiling face quite sickening. "Alright, I promise I'm going to help this time," He said. There was nothing you can do really, Mia thought to herself bitterly. You couldn't save Rei before nor protect her from danger now. "If you do anything to her," Mia warned. "I'll kill you." Her face told him that she was dead serious.

A stinking smell that came from the Gate's direction caught Mia's attention. Her eyes widened in dismay when she saw the 'thing' where the revolting smell originated. "Oh Rei, what did you call up?" Mia said to no one in particular.

Right in front of the dissolving seal was a pool of black ooze, twisting and turning as though it was alive. On top of it were all kinds of different rubbish such as body parts of demons, bones and skeletons. Apparently, it was pursuing Zorlin itself as well as releasing many silver slugs to attack him at the same time.

As soon as a new wave of silver slugs went towards Zorlin, Vergil signalled Dante to go to the other side of him. Although he was not completely sure if the ooze was something Rei summoned, it appeared to be on their side. The moment that a few silver slugs exploded on Zorlin, the twin brothers used the chance to pincer attack. To their dismay, Zorlin somehow managed to avoid the ice explosion and blocked both of them cleanly and solidly.

Mia watched Rune as closely as a prison guard would watch over prisoners while he was healing Rei. After a few minutes, he removed his hand. "I can't heal her injuries, but I've recovered her strength," Rune said and gave Rei back to her twin's care.

After Rune's treatment, Rei's condition seemed to have improved slightly. Her face was no longer as pale as a sheet. Her expression was more relaxed, she didn't appear to be in pain anymore. "Why are you doing this?" Mia asked. It seemed impossible for anyone to understand her cousin. "You can control the destiny of this world in your hands easily. Why are you helping us now?"

"Well, I just feel like it I guess," Rune replied light-heartedly.

"It was you who told Zorlin about Dante and Vergil's amulet, wasn't it?" Mia confirmed her hunch was right when she saw Rune return her a smile.

"Rei!" Mia called her twin when she saw her starting to stir. "Oh gosh, I thought you were going to…" Mia broke into tears.

Rei sat upright and brushed a tear off her twin's face. "It's ok," She smiled and hugged Mia. "Everything's ok, I'm not going anywhere," Rei said, patting Mia's back softly to comfort her.

By the time they let go of the embrace, Rune was nowhere to be seen. "Rei, what is that thing? It is something you summoned, right?" Mia asked as she wiped away her tears.

"It is called Nightmare. In the Underworld, it is regarded as one of the most powerful devils." Rei explained while watching the thing that she almost died in order to beg help from. It was no longer chasing after Zorlin; rather, it was being hindered by the two slugs which are his underlings. Nightmare shot out silver needles at the two slugs while changing its body shape constantly to avoid being touched by its attackers.

Bloody hell! Dante thought. He just barely avoided another close call. It was starting to get on his nerves that they weren't able to deal any notable damage to Zorlin. He and Vergil were fighting side by side yet it was almost like their opponent could handle them single-handedly. If anyone told him that a month ago, he would have laughed. As Zorlin was evading another one of Vergil's assault, Dante tried to sneak in an attack in from the opposite side but failed to hit his enemy. In the opposite, he had to hurl himself backwards with a back step to dodge Aura's sharp blade. It missed his forehead by a little but cut off some of his silver strands.

"Ah thanks, I've just been to the hairdresser a week ago," Dante said but everyone ignored him.

Zorlin used his crystals to block away the silver creatures sent by Nightmare. Despite his attempts to commend it to fight against Vergil and Dante, the low intelligence devil ignored his calls. He regretted to have underestimated Rei. He didn't think the Priestess was capable of performing another summon. Even a devil as strong as him was unable to fight against a Nightmare and Sparda's sons at the same time. So he ordered his own slug underlings to deal with Nightmare while he dealt with the twins himself.

It was still hard for Mia to believe she was witnessing such a nightmarish battle. "Come on Mia," Rei walked towards the Gate. "We need to close it up." There was only a small area of the seal still in place. Millions of red eyes could be seen on the far end of the black hole. An army of devils was making its way towards the human world.

"But Rei, you only just got better," Mia caught up with her twin. Compared to the world, she was more worried about the people she cares for.

"My condition looks worse than it actually is," Rei lied. Her powers had returned but her injuries had not recovered a single bit. "Besides, we are the only ones who can reseal the Gate."

The Priestesses stood very still facing the Gate, directly below the floating red amulet. Watching the moving mass of red eyes gave Mia the creeps. She looked at her twin with an anxious face. Rei could guess what Mia was thinking, she was worried that they made not be able to complete the seal before the army of devils arrived and cut them into pieces. "We'll make it," Rei said firmly. She offered her right hand and Mia held onto it with her left hand. Seconds later, they were surrounded by a blinding white light. Slowly but surely, the seal was being replaced from the edge to the center with a new, double-stranded net.

Zorlin wasn't about to let the Gate close again. Vergil noticed what the girls were doing before the taller grey-haired devil did and attempted to block his way. The devil leader struck Vergil hard enough to send him stumbling backwards for a few steps, but didn't expect Dante to appear behind his twin. Dante used Stinger to knock back Zorlin similarly. Before Zorlin could halt himself to a stop, Vergil was quick enough to get behind him. Zorlin reacted quickly but was still received a deep cut to his arm. Despite sustaining the injury, Zorlin struck at Vergil faster than he could block. Aura cut into flesh. However, it wasn't Vergil who it cut into. It was Niji.

"I'm sorry, but I owe him a favour," Niji said to Zorlin with Aura impaled through her chest. She didn't know why, but it really bothered her that Vergil didn't kill her when he could have.

"Is that so?" Zorlin said plainly, his face stiff and expressionless. Niji let out a small cry when he pulled out his sword. She fell on the ground and instantly turned into a puddle of water. The twin brothers watched the last moments of life of the water demon. Dante never really liked Niji but for some reason it made him angry to see what Zorlin did to her. His grip on Rebellion tightened and ran towards his enemy.

The seal was gradually being repaired from the edge to the center. Rei and Mia were replacing the gold stranded net by a double stranded one. They tried very hard but they were not able to close up the entire Gate. The red amulet that once belonged to Sparda was preventing them from doing so. All that was left to be sealed was a gap of the size of an ordinary door.

"Dante, Vergil, separate the amulet!" Mai called out to the devil hunters. As soon as they heard, Dante went towards the Priestesses while Vergil left behind to delay Zorlin. With a double jump, Dante was able to retrieve the amulet. He jumped away instantly followed by landing before Zorlin could slash him with Aura.

"Guess what, we've never been beaten when it comes to monkey in the middle," Dante said with a smirk while swinging the whole amulet playfully with a finger. At a speed quicker than eyes could follow, Zorlin headed towards Dante. Vergil had already caught his half of the amulet Dante threw at him before Zorlin got to his twin.

Dante performed Sword Pierce by throwing his sword at Zorlin, simultaneously firing Ebony and Ivory like there was not tomorrow. With his agile movement, Zorlin was able to avoid Dante's attack but not Vergil's dimension cuts. They had to be cautious not to hurt Rei and Mia as they do since they were so close. Zorlin looked at the Gate and began to panic. There was no time left, the seal was almost completely repaired. Just when he was about to throw his deadly sword towards one of the Priestess, the Nightmare engulfed him from behind.

Vergil and Dante watched as the devil leader struggled inside the pile of goo. It looked to them that Zorlin was trying to break out when his crystals but was no use against Nightmare's invincible body. They were both thankful that it wasn't Nightmare they had to fight against. The devil disappeared once its job was done along with Zorlin inside it.

Mia felt Rei had let go of her hand. She was about to ask why since they still hadn't completed the seal yet. Mia would never have guessed that Rei would knock her out without a word. Rei caught Mia before she dropped on the ground. The glow around their body had faded away.

"So, what's up now?" Dante pointed at the unconscious Mia after putting Ebony and Ivory back to where they belong.

After handing Mia to Dante, Rei spoke. "Though it may seem like it is, the seal is in fact still not finished. Right now, the strength of this seal is probably the same as Sparda's at most. He sacrificed a human priestess to create it. The reason why it could be broken was because it was not complete. If he wanted a complete seal, he had to seal from both sides – this side, the human realm, and the other side, the Underworld."

"Don't tell me you're going to the other side," Dante said.

"It's the only way," Rei replied.

"Well yeah I forgot to mention I don't take cash, only deposits," Dante rolled his eyes.

"I'm sorry that I can't repay you personally. If you find my father, he will pay you for helping me." For some reason, although Rei had only met Dante and Vergil a day ago, they felt like old friends to her. Not that she really had any old friends, nor she had said long farewells to anyone.

"How come I have this feeling you're going to tell me you won't be able to come back after you completed the seal?" Dante asked. Rei didn't answer.

"Why are you doing this?" Vergil asked. "For mankind?"

"I'm not that sainted," Rei shook her head. "I just don't want my father, Mia, Dante and you to live in a world where you have to fear for your own life every moment. That's why I can't let the Gate to ever be opened again." She took a step forward. The gap that had not yet been sealed up was just big enough for a person to walk through.

"Didn't you say to Mia that you want to change destiny?" Dante said. "She needs you."

Rune walked out of the shadow nearby. Everyone was so used to him appearing out of nowhere that they didn't even raise an eyebrow. "Are you sure you want the Gate closed up forever?" Rune asked. "Not far from the other side of the Gate is the power of Sparda that had been trapped for hundreds of years. That power can turn you into the most powerful being on the planet in moments. With that power, you can even rule both worlds."

The person who knew Vergil best was undoubtedly Dante. There was nothing in the world Vergil wanted more than to become stronger. Even as his twin, Dante couldn't fully understood why Vergil kept on chasing their father's shadow.

Vergil knew Dante could never understand why he wanted to be like their father. Power was not important to Dante. His twin was more like their mother while he was more like his father. He looked at unconscious Mia whom Dante was holding. Then he looked at Rei, who was also looking at him. He was beginning to understand why his father gave up all his power and chose to live in the human world.

Rei turned around with a sigh. All people could think about was power, may be she was wrong about him. He was no different to others. Just when she was about to head to the demon realm, someone caught her hand and stopped her.

"You don't have to do this for us," Vergil said to her. She was facing the other way so he couldn't see her expression. "How can you be totally sure that the human world won't be threatened again? There may be other ways of opening the Gate that you don't know of," he continued. "It's not your fault that you and Mia were born as twins."

"That's right. As long as we're still hanging around, you've got nothing to worry about," Dante said.

"I…" Rei turned around to face them. Her throat felt dry and tears were stinging at the back of her eyes. She held back her tears with force because she had promised herself she wouldn't cry; she needed to be strong. Vergil's gloved hand was so warm and wide it made her feel safe. She had never had anyone who was willing to do so much for her besides her parents and Mia. The whole world wanted her to die for good. She, too, had always thought she should never have existed. However, right now, there was someone willing to take the weigh off her shoulders unconditionally.

"You sure are talkative today," Dante commented on his twin's unusually long dialogue in Vergil's standard. Vergil glared at his twin. He had let go of Rei's hand by then. "I mean in a good way," Dante added with a grin.

"There is something I would like you ask you," Rune began. "Sparda sacrificed the Priestess who was our ancestor in order to seal this Gate. At that time, the Priestess had a daughter, who would become the new Priestess if the present Priestess died. Why didn't Sparda kill her too?"

Vergil and Dante looked at each other before turning back to Rune. "It's obvious isn't it? Father believed those with the Priestess's bloodline should live. He wanted them to change their own destiny." Dante said.

"Your destiny is in your hands, not in anyone else," Vergil finished for him.

"Is that so," Rune chuckled, seemed satisfied at the answer. He turned around to face his cousin. "Well then, goodbye, Rei."

"Rune…" Rei watched as he walked back into the shadows. As though melted into the darkness, he disappeared. No one in the world knew where he was heading next.

After that, they began to find their way out of Domain. Mia woke up on the way. She was a little mad when she found out why Rei knocked her unconscious but nonetheless was relieved to see her twin and the devil hunters alive. When Mia asked how Dante survived the fall, Dante explained it was Rune who helped him for no reason.

In a couple of hours, they managed return to the ground above by coming out from a manhole. When they did, there were many police cars and officers around the fallen Moon Corporation headquarters. It looked almost like a severe earthquake occurred but only at where the building once stood.

Dante popped open the manhole cover and took a deep breath of the fresh air. The city air smelt good thanks to the rain that fell earlier. Vergil came out last after Mia helped Rei out of manhole.

"I've always wanted to ask," Dante looked at the twin girls. "Which one of your is the older twin?"

Rei and Mia giggled mischievously. "Take a guess," they said together. Their identical smile was more beautiful than the evening sun.

The End

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Author's notes: Sorry about taking so long to write this chapter. I've been busy with uni and being sick (again). had been down for the past few days this was delay even longer. Anyway, how do you like the ending? There were so many ways I could have ended this fanfic but I chose to end it this way? Liked it? Hate it? Please review and tell me! Big thanks to all those who have reviewed for me, I couldn't have made it this far without you. Lastly, I'd like to thank Loki for beta-reading this chapter for me. 

Date written: 29-5-05


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